From Sodor with Love
by Ninjalinda
Summary: Arry and Bert is having a lot of fun while working, causing confusion and delay, and the Fat Controller is not amused. One day, they manage to tick him off so badly, they are split up and one of them is sent to the mainland for a while until they learn to behave. How will they handle being apart? Will they see each other again? Prequel to Iron Heart. Rated M for upcoming chapters.
1. Sir Topham Hatt is not amused

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

From Sodor with love

Chapter 1: Sir Topham Hatt is not amused

At Sodor Ironworks it was busier than normal. It didn't seem to bother its inhabitants much, Arry and Bert were shunting trucks full of scrap metal and fooling around, having great fun as always.

"Yo! Bro! Catch this!" Bert biffed into a truck full of metal going to the smelters, sending it flying towards Arry. Arry was caught off guard and wasn't prepared, so the truck rammed him at full speed, spreading the metal all over the tracks.

"Better luck next time, brother!" Bert chuckled as Arry started cleaning up the mess while swearing and cursing. Then he rattled over to help and soon they both laughed of it all.

"You won't catch me off guard again!" Arry grinned as they shunted the truck into the smelters to be emptied.

"Don't you two have better things to do than fool around and laugh?" a voice boomed from the control room. "The whole yard is full of scrap metal and trucks; you don't have time for silly games! I am tired of telling you this over and over! Get to work!"

The two shunters looked up, seeing the Fat Controller standing there looking down at them, he had been there to have a talk with the ironworkers. He was not amused by their antics, looking stern down at them.

"Sorry, sir…" they both muttered low and oiled back outside to get more scrap.

For a little while they were working silently and effective, but soon they were bored again, wanting to jazz up the work a little.

"Flatbed coming through!" Arry shouted bashed into a flatbed with broken engine parts, sending it towards Bert.

Bert was prepared for it, catching it gently without dropping any of the parts.

"Right back at ya!" he shouted, sending it back.

For a while they sent it back and forth between each other, until the Fat Controller walked outside, standing with his hands on his waist, looking at them.

"Ahem!"

The hazard-striped twins stopped, looking like kids who had been caught red-handed stealing cookies. The flatbed slammed into Bert's buffers, pushing him a bit backwards.

"Didn't I tell you two to quit joking around and get to work?! You are both causing confusion and delay! If I have to tell you ONE more time, I will split you up and send one of you to the mainland! Is that understood?" Sir Topham looked at them, not looking very happy. He also knew that the worst punishment for the twins was to be split up and sent away from each other. He knew they were very attached to one another.

"Yes, sir…" they both slumped low, ashamed of themselves, or rather… ashamed that they were caught not doing their jobs. They didn't regret having fun, just being caught for it.

"Good. Don't let me down this time!" the Fat Controller shouted and walked towards the office to talk to the managed at the smelters.

Arry and Bert went back to work, sighing in boredom as they shunted more trucks. They looked at each other over an empty flatbed, both getting a mischievous look in their eyes. And soon… they were playing and joking again, quickly straightening up and working normal whenever Sir Topham peeked out to check on them.

"Catch, Bert!" Arry ran at full speed, pushing a long train of trucks towards his brother.

Bert quickly switched tracks to prank his brother, making Arry and the trucks run past him and straight into the smelters. A loud bang followed by swearing made him giggle, he quickly turned at the turntable to go check on his brother.

He found Arry looking down in the pit cursing.

"We're in deep shit, bro…" Arry mumbled worried as they saw the blue rear end of a car sinking into the pit, smelting slowly, along with a couple of trucks.

"Uh oh…" Bert choked out.

"What do we do now?" Arry bit his lip, knowing that this would really upset Sir Topham. "Who the hell parks his car at the rails inside the smelters?!"

"Maybe if we pretend like nothing… just go back to work and act like nothing happened…" Bert yelped. If he hadn't moved, this would never have happened, he felt just as guilty as his twin-brother.

"I don't think Fat Hatt will buy that…" Arry whimpered, throwing worried glances towards the entrance. "How are we going to explain this?!"

"Well, he was a fool for parking his car there! Any other idiot would use the parking lot instead, but no… Fat Hatt is too lazy to walk a few extra meters!" Bert snorted, looking at the car sinking deeper and deeper into the pit.

"Fine, YOU tell him that!" Arry snapped.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who pushed those trucks!" Bert barked back.

"You were the one who moved out of the way!" Arry snarled.

"What are you two bickering about now? Didn't I tell you to work?!" a voice boomed behind them, causing both shunters to cover like they expected being beaten. They looked worried at each other.

The Fat Controller walked over to them, looking stern at them.

"Do you mind expla… MY CAR!" he suddenly saw the last of his nice blue car disappear into the pit, gone forever. For a while he just stood there, staring into the glowing, hot melted metal. Then he turned to the iron-brothers and now he was furious!

"What the hell… WHY?!" he shouted, glaring at them. "Explain yourselves!"

Arry and Bert looked at each other, like two naughty kids trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Umm… we… we were… ahh… erhm…" Bert stuttered.

"Speak up! I can't hear you!" Sir Topham screamed at the shunter, now turning to the other twin instead. "What do you have to say about this, Arry?!"

"I… umm… it was an accident, sir…" Arry mumbled low.

"An accident?!" The Fat Controller's face was red from rage. "You two better tell me how this happened, and be honest about it or I might have an accident with that claw over there! I am so tempted to scrap you both right now!"

"Please don't, sir…" Bert whimpered, backing a bit. His lower lip shivered.

"Suck it up, Bert!" Topham slammed a fist into his buffer-beam. "I hate seeing grown-up engines cry! It's pathetic!"

Then he turned back to Arry, who was looking very guilty, standing at the edge of the pit trying to avoid his stare.

"It was YOU, wasn't it?!" the chubby man asked loudly, jerking his coupling chain.

Arry didn't know why this little human scared him so much, if he just took a leap forward he could easily reunite him with his car. But everything in him fought against it. Hurting humans was against every engine's nature.

"I'm sorry, sir…"

"Give me ONE good reason not to have you scrapped! That car was my pride and joy! Do you have any idea what it cost?!"

"I… uhh… Because I… am a very useful engine…?" Arry swallowed hard, but the Fat Controller just shook his head and sighed sadly. He sat down on the tracks, staring into the pit where his car had met its demise. His shoulder started shaking, like he was crying.

Arry and Bert looked sideways at each other, confused by the sudden change of mood.

"I'm really sorry, sir." Arry nudged Sir Topham Hatt softly with his buffer in a sorry attempt on comforting him.

"Just explain to me how this happened." Topham said low and stern, not leaving any room for protests.

"I… we… it was…" Arry swallowed hard. "We were playing. I was going to send a train at Bert for him to catch, but he switched tracks, so I ran straight into your car and… it fell into the pit. I am very sorry, sir. I didn't mean to…"

Sir Topham Hatt stood up again, turning towards the two iron-diesels.

"You know I could never scrap you two… We grew up together, we're almost family." He sniffled, placing a hand at Arry's buffer-beam. "However, you two need to learn a lesson! I am tired of you not taking my orders and acting like two bumbling morons while you should work. What you do when you are not at work is not my business, but when you're at work I expect you to actually WORK."

Arry and Bert just stood there, not daring to say a word. They were both fearing the punishment.

"I need to split you up for a while!" the Fat Controller said, frowning at them. "Arry, you are going to the mainland to help out at one of the shunting yards! And if you both manage to behave yourselves… I MIGHT let you come back. But until then, you are staying at the mainland."

"Yes, sir…" they both said, looking down at the tracks. They had never been apart before; it would be hard. They looked at each other sadly, knowing they would miss each other badly. They used to talk and have fun in the shed after work, it would sure feel lonely if one of them were to leave.

"Arry, you are going NOW. My car is gone, so you have to bring me home first, but then you go straight to the mainland and report to the manager at the shunting yard nearest Vicarstown bridge."

Arry looked down at the Fat Controller climbed into his cab. He wasn't going far away at least; he could still look over at Sodor from the mainland.

The hazard-striped diesels looked at each other, attempting to smile, but failed. They both looked devastated.

"Bye brother…" Arry said low, backing out of the smelters.

"Bye, Arry. I'll do my best while you are gone. Good luck, bro." Bert replied, slumping low, feeling alone as the sound of his brother's engine faded away in distance.

He sniffled as he went outside to shunt trucks, working on without any joy, having a sad expression on his face. He hoped it would be long until Arry came back. He was going to behave as good as he managed and work as hard as he never had done before. He wanted to get his brother back fast!

He coupled to an empty flatbed, pulling it out of the scrapyard, putting it on a siding, then going back to shunt another into the smelters to be emptied. He worked fast and effective, not even thinking of joking or pranking anyone. He knew he had to change if he wanted his twin back.

And he was starting now!

To be continued…


	2. The annoying, pink shunter

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 2: The annoying, pink shunter

* * *

Arry oiled hesitant over Vicarstown bridge, looking down at the water below. He didn't like leaving the island, he had been to the mainland before, but this time he didn't know if he would ever be allowed to return. This time it was different.

He looked up as another engine came towards him, whistling her horn to greet him. Caitlin, screeched to a stop.

"Hello, Arry! Or… is it Bert?" She greeted friendly as always. "Going to the mainland?"

"It's Arry… and yes, I'm going to the mainland." He mumbled, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Wow, that's so cool! Maybe I'll see you there! We could have a race!" she beamed. "I have to go! See you later, Bert… I mean Arry!"

"Hmph." Arry snorted as she speeded away, he continued over the bridge, looking back one last time before he rattled further into the mainland.

He soon arrived at the shunting yard the Fat Controller had sent him to. The manager met him by the gates.

"There you are! Sir Topham Hatt called and told you were coming. We really need your help, so you're god sent!" he chatted along, climbing into Arry's cab to show him around. "We're really glad you're here! Arry, is it?"

"Yes…" Arry mumbled. He wasn't as excited as the manager. He missed his brother already, and not knowing when or if he would see him again was awful.

"Great! I am Sir Lorenzo Scott, but you can call me Scott." The human nuisance chattered along.

"Wonderful…" Arry mumbled without any trace of joy in his voice.

"I am sure you will like it here! We'll take good care of you. Mr. Hatt has high-quality engines and it would be a disaster if we broke any of them when we borrow them!"

Arry felt a little bit uplifted by being referred to as a high-quality engine, but still he felt miserable for being sent away from Sodor.

Mr. Scott didn't take any notice of his lack of enthusiasm, but kept blabbering on about everything they saw on their way.

"There is the shed you'll be staying in. I hope you don't mind sharing it though. Our main shunter also stays there. I am sure you two will get along."

Arry grinned. He highly doubted that any other engine could be a good substitute for Bert. He intended on just working hard, do his best and behave well, so he could return to Sodor as fast as possible. IF possible, but that was another story. If he was never to return to Sodor, he might as well work himself to death, so either way he would spend the rest of his days as a really useful engine.

"You see, our Alex has gotten an engine failure which cannot be repaired, so she cannot do the heavy work anymore. That's why we need help while we're looking for another engine to buy. Maybe Topham will let me buy you if you prove yourself useful here…"

Arry's eyes widened in terror. He did NOT want to be sold and moved away from Sodor permanently. But he didn't say a word. Now he was torn between doing a lousy job to be sure that Mr. Scott lost interest in him and doing a good job to get back to Sodor.

"I'm screwed…" he muttered.

"What did you say!" Mr. Scott asked, not hearing him clearly.

"Nothing. I just complimented the nice weather…" Arry replied quickly.

"Ahh… here comes Alex!" Mr. Scott beamed, waving to a diesel coming around the bend. "Hi, Alex! Come over and say hi to Arry, he's going to help you out for a while!"

The shunter rattled towards them, eyeing the newcomer with interest. Arry stared back, unfriendly. He decided not to like her. She wasn't going to take Bert's place! No way he was going to chat and be friendly with her after work. That was only for his brother!

"Hello there, Arry." The deep pink shunter smiled to him. "I'm Alexandra, but everyone calls me Alex. I'd appreciate it if you do too."

Arry narrowed his eyes, frowning at her. She was a Class 08 like himself, also having yellow and black hazard-stripes around her face. Her body was pink, a dark pink he had only seen at one engine earlier. It was the same color as Lady, that magic engine Diesel 10 was so obsessed with. Her name was written in white on her sidepanels, along with a black tribal tattoo. She had more than one tattoo as he could see. He took a quick glance at her face, not wanting to show too much interest. She was a good-looking girl, he had to admit. Her face was well defined. Her eyes were framed by thick eye lashes, and heavy eyeshadow. Arry had never seen another engine wearing make-up, other than Daisy. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Her eyes had a greenish brown color. Her mouth was very inviting; full, soft lips with a thin layer of lipgloss. If it had been under other circumstances, he wouldn't have mind kissing her. She had a piercing in her nose, one under her lower lip and one in her left eyebrow. Her eyebrows were thin and nicely curved. He would have tried to hit on her if he hadn't already decided to hate her.

"Hi." He muttered gruff, looking away.

"Not a very chatty one, eh?" she chuckled. "That's alright, as long as you're a hardworking engine. But it would have been nice if you said more than just one word now and then, though."

"Hmph." Arry snorted.

"Ok, Alex. Put him to work, show him whatever he needs to learn, if anything. I have to go do some work at my office! Good luck, Arry… and welcome to us!" Mr. Scott said, jumping out of Arry's cab and walking into a nearby building.

Alex smiled to Arry, trying to make him feel welcome.

"Come on, let's get to work." She said, backing to the yard. Arry followed with a rather dismissive attitude.

Soon they were working side by side, Alex tried numerous time to start a conversation, but Arry only responded by one-word replies.

"What do you do home on Sodor? For work I mean?" Alex asked as they were taking a short rest in the sheds.

"Ironwork. Quarry." Arry muttered not finding it necessary to give any further details.

"Ironwork, huh? I would never have guessed…" Alex chuckled ironic and motioned towards the white letters on his side. "You work with someone or are you on your own?"

Arry sighed, she was going to talk a hole in his fusebox if he didn't reply properly it seemed. He decided to throw in a few more words, she wouldn't shut up anyway, no matter how short his replies were.

"I mainly work together with my twin-brother Bert."

"Cool, you have a twin!" she smiled heartfelt. "I wish I had siblings. I bet you two are close."

"Mm… best friends." Arry mumbled, staring out at some birds circling around in the sky.

"It must be hard to be away from him then." The pink diesel continued, unaware of his mood.

"Yep." He didn't even bother looking at her.

"How long are you going to stay here? I mean… you're going back to your brother, right?"

"I don't know…" Arry said honestly. "Until Fat Hatt decides he has punished me long enough, I guess…"

"Being sent here is punishment?" Alex said with interest, glancing at him sideways. "What have you done to deserve being sent away, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I shunted Fat Hatt's car into the pit at the smelters." Arry grumbled, shifting his weight from one set of wheels to the other.

To his dismay, the tomboy diesel beside him burst out in laughter. "On purpose?! No wonder he sent you away! You better not try something like that here, man, or we will have to send you somewhere else!"

"I didn't do it on purpose…" the iron-diesel snorted, not amused by her teasing.

"So how did it happen?" Alex pulled herself together, still smiling.

"I was… never mind! It doesn't matter!" Arry barked and trundled out of the sheds, back to the yard where he started to shunt the trucks aggressively. He biffed into them harder than he had to, causing them to whimper.

Alex came shortly after, raising an eyebrow at him, unimpressed by his temper tantrum.

"I'm sure your stay here will be a lot more pleasant if you cheered up a little." She commented as he managed to derail a couple of flatbeds.

"I don't see any reasons to cheer up." The ironworker responded, pulling them back on track.

"Oh well… if you prefer being miserable, I don't care." Alex said, coupling up to a train of empty coal trucks, rattling away around the bend to deliver them at the coaling plant.

Arry just growled after her. He had already decided to hate her, and her disgustingly good mood and cute face just added to his hatred.

"This is going to be torture…" he grumbled, biffing into a couple of trucks, making them cry in pain.

He just hoped his stay would be as short as possible. He missed Bert so badly already!

* * *

To be continued…


	3. Feeling down

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor English, I'm Norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my English class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 3: Feeling down

* * *

Bert sighed sad as he drove out of the shed in the morning. Throwing a quick glance at his brother's empty space. Another day without him. He oiled to the smelters yard, working hard and effective without feeling anything at all. The days were just grey and dull without Arry to joke and have fun with. He also missed their talks in the shed at night. They could talk about everything.

He felt lonely, and at the same time he was worried about his brother. It had been over a week now, and he still hadn't got any message from the Fat Controller about when Arry would return.

What if he found a new best friend at the mainland and forgot about him?

He bumped into a flatbed, feeling tears stinging in his eyes by the thought. Arry would never forget about him, would he? They were related after all. Blood was thicker than water, right?

He didn't feel too sure. Arry was the one who had no problem talking to others and be alone without him. He was probably having a great time over there, probably not being homesick at all.

"You've always been so independent and…" he growled as he biffed another flatbed. "… damn brave and… and… fuck you! Why did you have to shunt that car into the pit, bro!?"

He shunted some empty trucks together, coupling up to them to take them to the shunting yard.

"I miss you so damn much!" he yelped, looking into the horizon as he oiled away from the Ironworks.

"Who are you talking to?" a voice said beside him.

He looked over, seeing James glaring at him. He glared back.

"None of your business, you steaming piece of scrap metal!" he barked to the red engine.

"You know… talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." James smirked, teasing him.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Bert sped up, pouting as he pulled the long train with him.

James sped up too, wanting to tick the diesel off even more. He enjoyed seeing him miserable.

"OH… you're missing your brother, aren't you?" he said with a voice only used when talking to a baby or a toddler. "Poor, little Bertie."

"Cut the crap, teapot. I have work to do! Get lost!" the hazard-striped shunter growled.

"It must feel so lonely in your shed without your precious brother there to hold your coupling chain and sing you a lullaby…" James teased, his words poking Bert like sticks.

"Do you wish to die, James?" the diesel snarled, being utterly annoyed. "If that's so, then keep teasing me…"

"Oh… I'm so scared! Big bad Bertie is coming to get me. Boohoo!" James mocked. "You know what? I think Arry is much happier at the mainland, now that he doesn't have to be with his whiny twin who can't live without him. It must feel like a relief to him being rid of you!"

Bert grit his teeth, trying hard not to let his words affect him. But they stung him like bees anyway. He decided not to say anything, it would only feed the troll. James obviously enjoyed seeing him upset.

"Do you cry when you're alone at night, thinking of all the fun your brother has without you? I have a teddybear you can borrow if you need someone to cling to." James chuckled.

Bert bit his lip, wanting to tell him where he could stuff that damned teddy of his! But he managed to remain silent. Just pulling the train, like nothing else mattered in the world.

"James!" a voice boomed behind them. "It's enough now!"

Edward puffed up behind them. "I've been listening to you for a while and I am very disappointed in you, James! Mocking other engines is wrong, he didn't even say anything mean to you before you started hammering him with insults!"

James squeezed his lips shut and sped up, disappearing in distance. He wanted to get away before Edward demanded that he apologized to Bert.

Edward sighed as the younger engine raced away from them. Then he looked sideways at Bert, the diesel sure didn't look merry.

"I'm sorry for James behavior, Bert. That was uncalled for." He said fatherly.

"Whatever…" Bert muttered, not wanting his pity.

Edward chugged alongside him down the hill, wanting to cheer him up. He hadn't cared much for the scrap yard diesels before, they usually kept to themselves and scared others away by their menacing attitude, so he hadn't bothered trying to talk to them before. But Bert looked so miserable it touched something inside him.

"You miss your brother, don't you?" he said softly, looking at the hazard-striped diesel.

"Whatever…"

"You don't have to play cool to me, Bert. I see through that mask of yours." Edward insisted.

"I have work to do, I don't have time to talk." Bert grunted.

"Nonsense. I know you're going to the shunting yard with those trucks, we can talk along the way." The blue tank engine offered.

"I don't have anything to talk to you about." The diesel mumbled.

"If you say so… but I want you to know that if you need a friend to talk to, you can rely on me." Edward said friendly.

"Whatever…" Bert grumbled, speeding up to shake the blue engine off. He didn't want to talk to a steamie! The only one he wanted to talk to was Arry… and he wasn't there!

He trundled into the shunting yard, carelessly dropping the trucks off before returning to the smelters. Maybe James was right… maybe Arry HAD forgot about him, maybe he really was relieved to be away from him… the thought made a desperate sob escape him. He looked around, hoping nobody had heard it, forcing the tears back.

He hid in his shed as soon as he came back, there wasn't much more to do until lunch now, he might as well try to take a nap. Time went faster if he slept.

* * *

On the mainland, Arry was sulking outside the shed he shared with Alex. He didn't want to go inside, she would only pester him with chitchat and annoying questions. She had tried to befriend him all week, but he kept her at a safe distance, not wanting to make friends at this forsaken place. All he wanted was to go home. But that damned pink shunter never gave up on trying to talk to him. He hissed by the thought. That girl talked from they woke up in the morning until they went to sleep at night! Sometimes he wondered if she kept talking even after he was asleep…

He stared up at the sky, wondering how his brother was doing. Bert had never been very independent, he preferred to be following orders rather than giving them. So Arry had always been the dominant one, while Bert was the one who followed in his tracks.

Maybe it would be good for Bert to be a bit alone, making his own decisions and plan the work by himself?

"I hope you behave, so I can return as soon as possible…" he mumbled into the air. "I miss you, bro."

Alex slid out of the shed, looking at him with dismay. She was sure not amused by his gruff attitude.

"If you're going to sulk all the time, you're going to have a really awful stay here." She said as she passed him. "Loosen up a little!"

Arry snorted, not appreciating being told how to behave.

"Why should I?"

"Because you're like a dark cloud, making even my own days sour and hard to get through." She grumbled, giving him a push towards the yard as she switched to his track.

"You're welcome." He muttered, slowly picking up speed to go back to work.

Alex groaned and rolled her eyes behind his back. She was getting tired of this grumpy iron-diesel, he was a hard nut to crack. She had looked forward to work with someone, have someone to talk to, but now she would have preferred to be alone… hell, she felt even more alone now, than she felt before Arry arrived. He was impossible to keep a conversation with!

"I really hope you'll go home soon…" she mumbled to herself.

* * *

To be continued…


	4. A real pain in the ass!

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 4: A real pain in the ass!

* * *

Another week passed by and still there was no sign of Arry returning to Sodor. Bert stared sadly at the gates of the ironworks, losing hope.

Two weeks… he looked down and went back to the shed to draw another mark on the wall, marking how many days it was since his twin had left the island.

He had tried to ask the Fat Controller about Arry, but the fat man had just cut him off, not having time to talk to him. That made Bert feel even more worthless and depressed. There was no one who cared for him. No one.

He took one last round through the scrapyard, checking if everything was in order before he backed into his shed for the night.

Maybe he wasn't working hard enough? Maybe Fat Hatt wasn't happy with his effort yet? He decided to work even harder, he was going to take on all the extra work he could from now on. He HAD to get Arry back!

The moonlight lit up the backyard, but it didn't make him feel any better. He looked up at the moon, wondering if his brother was ok. He stared at it until his eyes slid shut and he drifted away into a dreamless sleep.

At the mainland, Arry was staring at the same moon, having the shed doors open. He hoped Bert was doing alright, that he didn't get himself into any trouble.

Alex groaned beside him. "Can you shut those doors? I'm trying to sleep!"

Arry ignored her, he couldn't care less about her sleep. "I don't care."

"Oh come on, I need my beauty-sleep…" she mumbled tired.

"Waste of time anyway…" he snorted, edging that the beauty-sleep had no effect on her.

"Not sure if that was meant as a compliment or insult…" she grumbled. "Are you saying that it's a waste of time because I am already beautiful enough, or is it a waste of time because I am ugly no matter what I do?"

"It was an insult." he snorted, looking back at the moon.

"Charming… thanks." She chuckled with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Now, close those doors, will you? YOU need all the beauty-sleep you can get… though I doubt you can be saved…"

"Speak for yourself…" Arry sneered, slamming the doors shut in an angry move. Then he backed until he bashed hard into the safety buffer, making as much noise as possible just to annoy her.

"Be quiet, man! Seriously, you're a pain in the ass sometimes!" Alex complained with a gruff voice.

"Oh, sorry… I was just trying to be like you; annoying as hell. Mr. Scott said I could learn a lot from you…" Arry sniggered.

"How very funny… I am laughing my cab off…" Alex said dry.

"Weren't you going to sleep if I shut those doors?" Arry grumbled.

"I can't because you're trying to keep me awake for some sick reason!" Alex barked, annoyed by his sudden need to chitchat. "And you're calling ME annoying?!"

Arry snorted, biffing into the safety buffer again, just to piss her off. The loud bang echoed through the building.

"One more time and I will throw you out of the shed!" she hissed.

He just couldn't help himself… She had just closed her eyes, when another bang made her open them again. Arry grinned deviously at her from his side of the shed.

"That's it! You're sleeping outside tonight!" she shouted, darting out of the shed, quickly backing to Arry's side, pulling him out with aggressive movements.

She dropped him off a few meters away from the shed, backing back into her place.

"I hope it will rain! No… I hope it will be a hail-storm!" she yelled and slammed the doors shut.

Arry looked at the closed doors, feeling stunned by her temper. He had never expected her to actually throw him out! But it seemed like Alex was more strong-willed and tougher than he had thought.

"Wow, you're feisty…" he snickered as he settled in between two buildings for some shelter.

* * *

Needless to say, Arry didn't get much sleep that night. It was too noisy, seagulls were constantly trying to land on his roof, and there had been a really cold breeze from the sea.

Alex glared at him when she came out of the shed. "Slept well, huh? Serves you right! I hope you've learned not to mess with me!"

"Yes, ma'am." Arry yawned, feeling like a wreck. His eyes were sore from lack of sleep and the salty wind from the sea, it felt like someone had blown a handful of sand in them.

"And no slacking off! It's your own fault that you were thrown out of the shed!" she barked as she rattled over to the yard.

"Whatever…" he mumbled, following her. He smiled goofily as he slid to a stop behind Alex, studying her rear end. For a long time, he just stood there, looking at it, following the curves and lines with his eyes.

"Arry?" she growled eerie.

"Yes, ma'am?" he straightened up, quickly looking in another direction.

"You see that mirror over there?" she motioned towards a mirror who were hung on a pole to make it easier for engines to see what was behind them while backing in the yard.

"Yeah?"

"If I ever catch you staring at my butt again, I will shunt you off the broken bridge… understood?" she sneered, coupling up to a flatbed with empty crates.

"I wasn't staring at your fat butt!" he snorted, coupling up to a train of coal trucks.

"I saw you!" she hissed.

"Wishful thinking!" he grinned back. "You're desperately hoping someone will find you attractive."

"Then I at least hope there will be someone good-looking… not someone like you! Seriously, go get a shave!"

"Nope! If it annoys you to see me dirty and unshaved, I will roll myself in the mud. Just for you, babe!" Arry chortled, pulling the train out of the yard, heading to the coaling plant.

"At least it won't make you look any worse!" she yelled after him, taking the flatbed with the crates to the dump.

"I don't have to put on a ton of make-up to look terrible! I'm naturally ugly at least!" Arry chuckled, knowing he annoyed her just as much as she annoyed him.

"Damn right you are!" Alex trundled off before he could fire another insult at her.

* * *

Edward decided to pay the ironworks a visit, just to check on Bert. He was worried for the scrapyard diesel, he seemed to become more depressed every day.

He shuddered as he went into the scrapyard, that place always made him feel uneasy. Just living here would be depressing enough! No wonder the iron brothers were unfriendly and sinister. How could they not become like that living at a place like this?

He found Bert shunting trucks of iron into the smelters to be unloaded into the furnace. The hazard-striped diesel stopped and stared at him.

"What do you want?" he barked.

"I just wanted to see if you're ok." Edward smiled to him.

"Why do you care?"

"I care about everyone. I hate to see other engines being sad and depressed." Edward moved bit forward.

"I'm not sad and depressed." Bert insisted, pushing the truck into the smelters under the crane, waiting for it to be emptied.

Edward followed, looking at the crane grabbing the scrap, dropping it into the pit.

"Well, you're sure not happy. Everyone can see that." The blue engine continued. "If there is anything I can do to cheer you up, just let me know. If you need to talk… or just take a drive with someone… I'll be happy to be there for you."

"Thanks for the concern. But I don't need anyone!" Bert grumbled and pulled the truck back outside.

"I don't believe you." Edward insisted, following him.

"If you don't want to believe it, I don't really care. Leave me alone!" the diesel put the truck aside, getting a new one. "Don't you have work to do yourself?!"

"You miss Arry, don't you?" Edward said in sympathy, looking at him.

"No. I'm fine alone!" Bert choked out as he scurried into the smelters with the truck. He was feeling dizzy by Edward's annoying presence and chitchat. All he wanted was to be alone, preferably sulking in his shed, but he needed to get this work done…. So maybe Arry would be allowed to come home, though he was starting to lose hope.

"Ok… if you say so…" Edward chugged away, still worried about the younger engine. He was clearly not fine alone… the blue engine decided to keep an eye on him.

* * *

To be continued…


	5. Homesick

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 5: Homesick

* * *

Another week. Bert drew another mark on the wall in his shed, sighing sadly. Still the Fat Controller hadn't talked to him. He didn't know anything about his twin, how he was doing, where he was at the mainland, or if he was ok.

It pained him not to know anything at all. If only he knew that Arry was alright, it would feel better. Now, he could lay derailed and dead somewhere for all he knew.

He shifted weight from one set of wheels to the other, and back again. His wheels felt sore and his axles creaked. He worked harder every day, hoping that the Fat Controller would notice and bring his brother back home. Or at least tell him if he was ok.

He sighed heavy, shutting the doors to the shed. He barely slept anymore, he worked as much as he could. At least it kept his mind off how much he missed Arry. But he started to feel uneasy and dizzy, he knew he needed to rest more, but he just couldn't bring himself to it. He had to keep himself busy. He couldn't waste a second on something else than work.

He sighed again, looking down at the rails.

How much longer would the Fat Controller keep punishing them? Would he ever forgive them for destroying his car? Maybe Arry would never come home… Yesterday he had heard some of the steamies say that he might get sold to the mainland as they needed another engine there.

Bert whimpered, the thought was unbearable.

"Come home soon, bro…" he choked out, peeking out of the small dusty window.

* * *

Arry couldn't sleep, it felt too hot inside the shed, but too cold outside and Alex didn't allow him to have the doors open. He sighed, rolling a bit back and forth, trying to find a comfortable spot, hopefully with a draft of cold air.

"Stand still, will you?! It's impossible to sleep!" Alex complained.

Arry for once didn't come up with an insulting reply, he just sighed sad and slumped low, backing as deep into the shed as he could.

Alex looked up in surprise, this was new! He usually tried to annoy her further, or insult her and piss her off in any way he could.

"Are you sick or something?" she whispered, now getting a bit worried on his behalf.

"Only homesick…" he mumbled, surprising her again by being so open and honest.

"Ok, now I am getting worried… you usually insult me when I talk to you." Alex glanced at him sideways.

He didn't look well, he seemed to be tired and devastated.

"Wow, you really look like hell." She blurted out.

"Thanks… I really needed to hear that." He mumbled. "Who's insulting who here…?"

Alex' heart bled for him, he seemed so vulnerable and broken. Like he had given up. Being kept away from his brother, his only family sure took his toll on him.

"Aww, Arry… I didn't mean it like that… I'm sorry." She drove out of the shed, turning and driving back in, on his side, facing him. "You can talk to me if you need to."

Arry avoided her stare, not wanting to talk. But at the same time, he couldn't keep it all bottled up inside anymore. He was sick of pretending like he was unaffected by being kept away from Bert.

"I miss my brother." He said simply, sighing heavy.

Alex didn't know what to say, she didn't know how long he was supposed to stay here, or if he was ever going back to Sodor at all. She just grabbed his coupling chain, trying to comfort him.

"I miss all the fun, working with him, all the jokes… all the talks we had. We used to talk until we fell asleep… and we could talk about everything. Nobody knows me better than him…" Arry mumbled, still not meeting her stare, he kept staring at a spot on the wall.

Alex nudged his buffer. No matter how much they hated each other, it was all forgotten now. She felt sorry for the ironworker.

"I miss telling him about my day… well, if we worked at separate places, we always met up at the end of the day in our shed. Now, I feel like a part of me is missing."

"I think I understand… though I don't have any siblings. I really wish I had though." Alex whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

Arry smiled sadly, closing his eyes. Her eyelashes tickled his face, but it felt good.

"I was really looking forward to getting another engine to help me here." Alex continued. "It's quite lonely here… and I've always wanted someone to talk to and have fun with. Like you and your brother… talking until you fall asleep… sharing everything. I was hoping that the engine they borrowed would fill that empty space in my life…."

"… but I disappointed you." Arry finished for her, swallowing hard. He hadn't been very nice to her… in fact he had been rather mean. Pushing her to the point where she gave up on befriending him and turned mean instead.

"I guess you can say so… my first impression of you has been rather nasty." Alex said with a sad smile.

"I…" Arry whispered. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be friendlier from now on if you give me a second chance."

"I'm stuck with you for god knows how long anyway, so I have no other choice than giving you a second chance…" Alex said dry.

"I was just trying not to get too comfortable here, as it would be harder to leave… but now I am starting to lose hope of ever going back home, so… what the heck. I might as well have fun and make friends while I'm here…" Arry mumbled.

He was so homesick he was near to crying. He, the engine who never shed a tear, was almost crying because he was missing his home and his brother. How pathetic was that?

Alex pulled his chain, wanting him to follow her.

"Come, let me show you something. Close your eyes!"

He hesitated, but she kept jerking his chain, so he followed her outside with his eyes closed. Soon they were climbing a steep track up the hills. They stopped on the top, still face to face.

"Now, you can open your eyes again." She whispered.

Arry looked around, they were high up. He peeked over the ledge, it went straight down into the sea. Then he looked up, seeing lights in distance. It was Sodor.

"Look. It's your home." Alex said, looking over at the island. I know you probably can't see the ironworks from here, but those lights over there are from Vicarstown. At least it is on Sodor, a little piece of home, huh?"

"Thanks, Alex." He whispered in awe over the view. He could see the lights from an engine driving on one of the lines. He couldn't see who it was, but since it was night, it was probably Percy and the mailtrain.

They stood there for a while, looking over to the island and the lights, then Alex nudged his buffers.

"You think you'll be able to sleep now? We have a long day ahead of us, we need to rest." She asked gently, not wanting to take him away too soon.

"Yes, as long as you bring me back here tomorrow night…" he smiled.

"If that's what it takes to get some peace and quiet at night, I will!" she chuckled, as they started oiling back to the shed.

* * *

To be continued…


	6. The break down

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 6: The break down

* * *

Edward just knew something was wrong when he visited the scrapyard to check on Bert again. It had been a week since the last time he had been there, but he had caught a glimpse of the hazard-striped shunter now and then as he hurried from one job to the other, either at the quarry or to deliver empty trucks at the shunting yard or get scrap metal to bring to the smelters. He seemed to be working day and night. Edward was afraid he was overdoing it. The poor, distressed diesel sure didn't look healthy… Edward thought worried as he looked around the scrapyard. It was too quiet…

"Bert?" he shouted.

No answer. Now he got scared. Had anything happened to him?

"Bert? Are you here?" he yelled again.

Still no answer. He peeked into the smelters, it was empty. Then he puffed to the back, checking the shed. Still no sign of Bert.

He was about to leave, when he caught a glimpse of something yellow in between the trucks in the scrapyard.

"Bert?!" Edward trundled over, fearing the worst. "Bert! Speak to me!"

The diesel was lying on his side, off the tracks, like he had collapsed on the spot and just tipped over. Edward was relieved to hear him breathe, but his engine did not run smooth, it had a sick rattling and grinding noise. It soon whirred to a stop, making a cloud of black smoke emerge from the airvents.

"Fuck…" Edward looked around desperately. "Anybody?! Help!"

But there was nobody near enough to hear him. He didn't dare to leave Bert there, so he chugged around to see if there was anything he could use to lift him on to a flatbed. His eyes fell on a rusty old crane. Was it still useable?

"It doesn't hurt to try…" he coupled up to it, pulling it over to Bert, then finding an empty flatbed to load him onto.

"Don't you dare die on me!" he grumbled as he maneuvered the crane, carefully lifting the shunter up.

"Yes! It works!" he cheered, quickly securing Bert on the flatbed so he wouldn't fall off.

Then he coupled to the flatbed, going at full steam out of the ironworks, heading straight towards the dieselworks. He got a few curious glances from other engines as he ran past them with Bert, but he didn't have time to explain.

He trundled straight into the mainshed, ignoring Diesel 10's annoyed stare.

"I need help! Bert is ill!" he shouted.

Diesel 10 quickly called for Den and Dart to come assist him, before taking a closer look at the diesel on the flatbed.

"What happened?" he asked, surprisingly mild to be a menacing warship.

"I don't know. I just found him lying off the tracks at the scrapyard. I just loaded him on to this flatbed and drove straight here!" Edward panted, exhausted from the quick trip. "Please don't tell me it's too late!"

Diesel 10 poked Bert with his claw, but there was no sign of reaction. He opened his eyelid, but it slid shut again as soon as he let go.

"It doesn't look good… but he is still breathing at least." The warship muttered as Happy Hook lifted Bert off the flatbed.

"I beg you… do whatever you can for him!" Edward choked out, seeing oil leak from Bert's engine. It was thick, black and greasy, not thin, clear and fresh like it should be.

"You're a weird steamie, you know that?" Diesel 10 muttered, puzzled over how much the tank engine cared for the diesel shunter. "Not many of you care for diesels."

"I don't think of anyone as steamie or diesel… to me everyone are engines and equal." Edward said, not taking his eyes off the hazard-striped diesel.

"That's why you're the only steamie I like." The warship said, pushing a truck with tools over to Den who was looking Bert over.

"Eww… he should have had an oil-change at least two weeks ago!" Dart muttered as they emptied Bert of oil. "It's a miracle how he has kept going with this… tar-like oil! Dizzy diesels!"

"Obviously he doesn't anymore." Den said dry, finding a can of new oil.

Edward bit his lip. "Is he too far gone, Den?"

"Well… uhh… what I mean to say is…" Den stuttered.

"What he means is he don't know yet." Dart finished for him. "Just wait and let us do our job."

"I think he might have neglected himself a lot lately, not bothering having oil-changes and his engine looked over…. He seems to have been working day and night for at least two weeks straight… I never see him resting anymore. I think he misses his brother more than he wants to admit." Edward said to Diesel 10.

"Hmm… yeah. A lot of things changed when Arry was sent away… I hope he'll be back soon. I never imagined that one engine would make much difference, but we sure feel it… we all have much more to do now, at the quarry and elsewhere." The warship mumbled, mostly to himself, but Edward listened.

"We all have our roles on this island." Edward said. "And if one of us is missing, the island isn't whole…"

"Damn right." Diesel 10 muttered.

"I need to find Sir Topham Hatt and tell him about this. If he is going to keep punishing the iron-twins, he need to at least let Bert know that Arry is ok and vice versa. I think he'll calm a little if he gets an update on how his brother is doing every now and then…" Edward started backing outside, throwing one last glance at Diesel 10. "Let me know if there is any changes in Bert's condition, ok?"

"Will do." The warship turned to help Den and Dart, even though they seemed to manage well on their own.

Edward was fuming as he schreeched to a stop by Sir Topham Hatt's office. He had never been so upset about his boss before. He whistled loud and annoying until the chubby man came walking outside.

"Edward?! What's gotten into you? I can't even hear myself think! Will you stop this noise at once?!" he boomed as he approached the blue tank engine.

"Sir, how long are you going to punish Arry and Bert by keeping them apart?" Edward went straight to the point.

"Well, they have probably learnt their lesson now, but I've promised Mr. Scott that he can keep Arry a little longer until they find a replacement. They need an extra engine over there since their shunter is faulty and probably won't last much longer. I am not really punishing the twins anymore, but they really need Arry's help at the mainland." The Fat Controller explained.

"Well, then do you mind telling them? They still think you're mad at them and punishing them… and now this has caused Bert to break down. He's been working too hard and has been neglecting himself to the point he couldn't take it anymore, sir!" Edward informed.

"What? Bert has… oh no. Now I feel terrible…" Topham bit his lip, looking devastated. "Oh my… I've been so busy, I totally forgot to tell him about how Arry is doing and… and… Edward! You need to take me to him!"

"Right away, sir!" Edward said, letting him climb into his cab.

When they arrived back at the dieselworks, Den and Dart had finished their work on Bert and parked him in the shed beside Diesel 10. The hazard-striped shunter was sleeping heavy, but he didn't look so pale anymore.

"He's going to be alright, Edward. He just need to rest now. And do tell him to follow up on his oil-changes from now on. It was a close call!" Dart informed.

"Sir Topham Hatt wants to see him."

"Well… I suppose that's alright." Den muttered, cleaning up after their job. "He's in the shed."

The Fat Controller walked up to Bert, who was sleeping heavy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Bert." He said, placing a hand on his side. "I was too busy to even remember telling you that Arry will come back as soon as Mr. Scott has bought a new engine for his shunting yard… he asked me to buy your brother, but I will never sell him. I should have told you, so you didn't have to worry so much…"

He knew it was a waste of time, standing there and chatting with a sleeping engine, but he just didn't want to leave him. He sat down on a barrel, looking at the diesel, wanting to stay until he woke up, so he could assure him that his brother was doing fine and would come back soon. His officework could wait, his engines were more important.

* * *

On the mainland, Arry and Alex was standing on the hill, looking at the view of Sodor. They had made this a daily routine after work.

"Mr. Scott informed me that Sir Topham had called." Alex said. "He wanted to inform you that he isn't angry with you anymore, but you have to stay here until Mr. Scott has bought a new engine to help me out at the yard. After that, you will go back to Sodor. Sir Topham Hatt didn't want to sell you to us."

"I am glad to hear that. Did he say anything about my brother?" Arry said, not moving his stare from the island in distance.

"Well… yeah… but…" Alex bit her lip, knowing he would be upset.

"What? Is… is something wrong with him?" Arry looked at her, his eyes displayed a naked angst she had never seen in anyone's eyes before.

"He'll be alright. He broke down at the scrapyard and was brought to the dieselworks. They say he has been neglecting himself and overworked himself." The pink shunter said low, meeting his stare.

"Oh no… it's my fault… poor Bert." Arry looked down. "If I hadn't been stupid enough to push that truck into that car…"

"If this is anyone's fault, it is Fat Hatt's fault. He was the one who parked his car inside the smelters. HE was the one who didn't bother telling your brother about his plans for you." Alex said, pulling his coupling chain to make him look at her.

It was time to go back, she started rolling down the hill again. Arry threw one last glace at Sodor before he followed. He knew Alex was right, but he still felt like it was his fault.

But now he also knew that he wasn't going to stay here forever. He was going home, the only question was when, but he could live with that. At least he knew that he would come back to Sodor and his brother someday. That was enough to keep him going.

* * *

To be continued…


	7. Alex' destiny

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 7: Alex' destiny

* * *

"Just a few more trucks and we're done for today!" Alex said optimistic, looking over the shunting yard.

"It will be nice to have some time off while there is still daylight." Arry replied, pushing a couple of flatbeds on to a siding.

"Wanna go for a drive or something? You haven't seen much of the area yet." Alex suggested as she coupled up to the last coal trucks going to the coaling plant.

She had only gone a few meters forward when she started coughing and billowing black smoke. A sick rattling emerged from her engine. Arry stopped working and looked worried at her.

"Alex?!" he shouted, quickly switching tracks to get to her.

"Don't worry. It will pass." She coughed as she slowly went back to normal.

"Are you sure I shouldn't go get Mr. Scott?" he looked terrified.

"He can't do anything for me anyway, so just keep working. I'm fine." She assured him, starting to drive towards the exit with her train.

Arry quickly shunted the last trucks in place and sped after her. She wasn't going fast, so she was easy to catch up with. He was still worried after what he had just witnessed, he wanted to make sure she didn't break down on her way to the plant, alone on the line.

"Arry, seriously… go back to the yard. I'm fine, I tell you!" she scolded mildly, surprised and flattered by his concern. He had sure changed after their talk in the shed that night. They worked better together now and no longer threw insults at each other.

"I'm coming with you!" he insisted, helping her by pushing the train to make it easier for her.

"Ok, we don't have more work at the yard anyway…" she said.

They dropped the trucks of at the plant. Arry drove up beside her, looking at her sideways.

"What was that? Back at the yard I mean…" he asked.

Alex sighed. "I thought Mr. Scott had told you…"

"He mentioned something the first day… but I was too buried in self-pity to notice what he said…" Arry admitted with a light blush.

"Yeah, you were a right cheerful sort when you arrived…" she chuckled, blinking at him.

He smiled back, he had started to like how her face lit up when she smiled like she did now. It made his generator spark. She had become a good friend the last two weeks, it would be hard to say good bye when he was returning to Sodor, but they had promised to visit each other as often as they could.

"You see, Arry… I have an engine failure. It will kill me one day, we just don't know when. It might happen tomorrow, or in a few years… but it will happen. I try to live every day like it's my last, enjoying whatever time I have left. That's why I was so mad at you for being so gloomy… you have a healthy, running engine and years ahead of you… and you spend that time dwelling into self-pity and sadness. You should embrace life you know! Live! Take risks and enjoy whatever comes your way. Because you never know when it's over…" she whispered, looking down.

"But… can't it be fixed? I mean, isn't there anyone who can repair you?" he stuttered, devastated by what he had just heard. How awful it must be not knowing if you would live to see another day…

"Mr. Scott has done everything he can… taken me to every mechanic he could find, even Vicarstown dieselworks where those two adorable guys work… Den and Dart, I think their names was… but nobody can fix me…" she said, still with her stare nailed to the tracks.

"I'm so sorry about your engone…" Arry said, not quite knowing what to say. "You really think Den and Dart are cute?"

She grinned, looking sideways at him. "Yeah… at least Den. He's actually kind of hot, he just don't know it himself…"

For some reason, Arry didn't like to hear that, it lowered his rpm's and he got some strange feeling in his generator he never had felt before.

"He's ok, I guess… Never seen him with a girl before though…" he muttered.

Alex chuckled by his sullen expression. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're jealous, Arry…"

He straightened up, putting his stoneface back on, looking arrogant at her. "Good thing you know better, because I'm not jealous! Why should I be?"

Alex giggled, amused by his desperate attempt to smooth over his feelings.

"So you would actually encourage me if I asked Den out?"

"Sure, go ahead! See if I care!" he said gruff, looking away.

"Great! I will!" she beamed, having great fun teasing him. "Den is attractive… good looks, intelligent, well, a bit hard to talk to, but he is sure a thinker. I bet we'll have long and deep conversations after a loooong, deep make-out session…maybe ending up having sweet, hot se…"

"Ok, ok… I get it, you have a crush on Den. I don't need detailed plans of what you want to do with him…" Arry grumbled, looking like a dark thunder cloud.

He gritted his teeth, forcing the pictures of Den kissing her away. But they kept coming, but suddenly Alex was replaced by Dart… and the inner pictures of Den and Dart making out caused him to burst out in laughter, loud and heartfelt.

Alex frowned at him, smiling. "What?!"

Arry pulled himself together, biting his lip not to laugh more.

"Nothing… it was just… I thought of Den.. and Dart… Those too seem a tiny bit too attached to each other, don't you think?" he sniggered, looking at her.

"I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary… well, maybe Dart is a bit affectionate towards Den, but they're best friends, right?"

"Perhaps even fucking good friends…" he chuckled, not able to let the thought go.

"Now you're being rather mean… it doesn't HAVE to be homosexuality involved just because they're bestfriends, you know. You and your brother are bestfriends too, engines who doesn't know you might think you two are doing more than just sleeping in that shed of yours, you know…" she said, defending the two dieselworks employees.

"Eww… that would be incest, Alex! Bert is my brother!" Arry cringed by the thought, it had never crossed his mind that anyone would even think of it that way.

"So? Not everyone knows that…" she provoked.

"As if they're not able to guess that by looking at us! We're almost identical, hell, I met Caitlin at the bridge on my way here and she had to ask if it was me or Bert!"

"I've never seen your brother, so I wouldn't know!" Alex snickered. "If any of you has a girlfriend… how would she know which one of you is the right one? Or do you share EVERYTHING…?"

"How the hell do you come up with all this bullshit?!" Arry snorted, not amused. "I said we're ALMOST identical. And no, we don't share our girls..."

"So you have a girl?" she asked, still smiling. "Tell me about her. What's her name?"

"I didn't say I have one now… neither do Bert, I think… if he hasn't hooked up with someone while I've been over here." Arry grumbled, not liking this conversation. In fact, he had felt rather uncomfortable ever since she mentioned having a crush on Den.

"So… I have a slight chance…?" she giggled, blinking at him, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"What makes you think I would be interested?!" he snorted, feeling an urge to hurt her for teasing him so much.

"Oh, well… I don't really like unshaved, hazard-striped shunters anyway. Not to mention how much I dislike dirty, rowdy ironworkers. Those are the worst!" She shrugged, firing the darts back at him, not letting his words sting her. Trying her best not the feel hurt by his rejection.

"Fine! I don't like pink, hazard-striped shunters with tramp-stamps and heavy make-up either, so I guess we're even!" he barked back, feeling more hurt by her words than he wanted to admit to himself.

"Great. Then I will go to Vicarstown right now, asking a certain slate-grey and orange handsome diesel out on a date!" she hissed and drove away with her nose lifted arrogant.

"Wonderful! Good luck!" he snarled, trundling off to their shed to sulk alone.

* * *

To be continued…


	8. Rejected

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 8: Rejected

* * *

Alex felt tears stinging in her eyes as she rattled over Vicarstown-bridge, Arry's insults had hurt really bad this time, even though she had tried to hide it by teasing him back.

Over the past weeks, she had started to look at him in a different way, liking what she saw. Sometimes she studied him when he was asleep, wondering how he would be as a boyfriend. But she didn't know if he was taken or not, so she didn't dare to build up any hopes or fantasies.

She liked his rough looks, it made him look more untamed than most other engines. He was so far, the only engine she had seen with facial hair and she found it rather sexy. His brutality against the troublesome trucks and his strength also attracted her a lot.

"But obviously he doesn't like me, so I better forget about it!" she grumbled to herself. "He's a jerk anyway, thinking he's so hot and irresistible… As if he's God's gift to the women… hah!"

She took a turn towards the dieselworks, she was intended on asking Den out before she lost her courage. She liked him too, even though she wouldn't have said no if Arry had shown her any interest. Her hope had peaked when he seemed to be jealous when she talked about Den and Dart, but he had quickly shot it down.

Den was quite handsome too, his face had nice features and she really liked his livery. He was big and probably equally strong. He wasn't very talkative, but when he said something it was reasonable and well-thought.

His assistant, Dart, was adorable too, but not really her type. He was more like a cute puppy… she would never date him.

She slid to a stop when she came to the main shed, shocked to see a hazard-striped shunter on the ledge looking down at her with a hostile expression. He was the spitting image of Arry!

"I uhh… hi? You…" she stuttered, not able to take her eyes from him while recovering from the startle.

He narrowed his eyes at her, unfriendly. His generator was obviously undergoing repairs as it's cover was open, so it was definitely not Arry, there was no way he could have gotten here this fast.

"You must be… Arry's twin, right?" she managed to say, smiling friendly.

He growled, not bothering to answer, just silently retreating into his shed.

"No! Wait!" she shouted, but he just shut the door. "I just wanted to talk to you…"

"Never mind Bert." A voice said behind her. "He's been like that ever since his brother was sent to the mainland. Not that he is extremely merry when Arry is home either, but he's sure gotten worse."

Alex saw Dart oiling up beside her. "I heard he broke down; will he be alright?"

"Yeah, he's just a bit depressed and missing his brother, but he is healthy and soon going back to the ironworks. He was overworked and needed a little rest and an oil change, that's all. How are you, Alex? I am sorry we couldn't help you with your engine…"

"I'm fine…" she cut him off, not wanting to talk about it. "Is Den around?"

"Yeah, he's in the back shed if you want to say hi." Dart said, using the turntable to get up one level.

"Thanks… oh, and could you tell Bert that his brother is doing fine? Arry was sent to my shunting yard, we're working together. He is homesick and misses his brother, but is doing a fine job despite being a total jerk. He looks forward to coming back to Sodor." Alex shouted to him.

"Sure, he will be glad to hear that, but I might leave out the part about being an jerk." Dart smiled and backed over to the shed Bert was hiding in.

Alex scurried back outside, her courage was fading, but she was hell-bent on doing this. It was now or never. The worst thing that could happen was Den rejecting her, then she could just go home and keep living like before. No harm done… and IF he accepted, it could be the start of something good.

Her pistons skipped a beat as she saw him coming out of the shed, he stopped and smiled once he saw her.

"Alex! How are you? I mean… uhh.. you know…" Den looked a bit helpless, not having Dart there to finish his sentence. "What I mean is…"

"Yeah, I know… I don't think much of it. Thanks for trying to repair me though…" she said, smiling back.

Now that she was standing face to face with him, she didn't feel so brave anymore. She grinned goofily, she probably looked like a moron, she thought.

"I… uhh… I was wondering if…" she started, struggling to get the words out. She felt torn, one part of her wanted to get to know Den better and the other part wanted to run home to Arry and kiss him…

"Yes?" Den raised an eyebrow.

Alex swallowed, shifting her weight from one set of wheels to the other. "I… oh…"

Without thinking it through, she darted forward and pressed her lips against his in a desperate kiss. All her frustration over Arry's attitude, her attraction to both Den and Arry, and her desperate hunger for affection was released into the kiss. A few seconds Den responded to it, before he broke away with a deep blush.

Alex looked at him pleadingly. "Go out with me! Please!"

Den looked down, not sure what to say. "I… sorry, Alex… I like you, but… what I mean to say is… I am already seeing someone… She is… uhh… I mean… we're a couple."

"Oh…" she blushed, ashamed over herself pushing herself on him like she had done. And now he would probably get in trouble with his girlfriend if she saw the lipstick that had rubbed off on his lips. "I'm sorry… I.. I.."

It felt like she couldn't breathe, both from the embarrassment and from the awful feeling of being rejected. She did the only thing she could do. She fled. Running away at full speed with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Love just isn't for me…" she sobbed, thundering over the bridge to the mainland. She was always being rejected… every time she found someone she liked, they would either laugh or tell her to fuck off. Den had at least been nice about it, telling her that it was because he was taken, but the others before him had just been downright rude. She had almost given up, when Arry of all engines managed to spark a new hope in her, making her want to get back on the horse. She had a crush on Den long before Arry came to her yard… though she had to admit that the ironworker had almost made her forget about Den for a while. But then he was so mean to her… and the feelings she kindled for Den had come back… and now they were crushed.

"Oh, well…. Back to my old life. No harm done, no one was hurt… except for my pride…" she mumbled, entering the shunting yard. She knew Den wouldn't tell anyone about the kiss or humiliate her further, he was too kind for such. She didn't have to fear any bad rumors being spread behind her back.

Arry opened one eye as she approached the shed. "Well? How did it go?" he said spiteful.

"He's taken." She grunted, backing into her space.

"Told you so." Arry chuckled with an arrogant smirk.

"You're happy now, aren't you? Seeing me crushed and humiliated." She choked out, closing her eyes to prevent herself from crying. She didn't bother telling him that Den was seeing a girl, not Dart like he had predicted. She had wanted to tell him about his brother too, but now she changed her mind, wanting to hurt him just as much as he hurt her. He didn't deserve getting news about Bert!

Arry laughed low and spiteful, she glared at him until he shut up. If he didn't stop soon, she was going to break down and cry, and she absolutely didn't want him to see her cry!

"And I thought you were my friend…" she hissed, trying her best not to show him her sore feelings. The fact that he laughed at her misery felt even worse than Den's rejection. "Asshole!"

She ignored his sniggers and tried to fall asleep, it was difficult. Her feelings were too stirred up; it took a long time to calm herself enough to relax. She focused on her breath, slowing it down… making herself loosen up and become less tense.

As she heard Arry's breath beside her, heavy and fast asleep, she focused on his rhythm instead. Soon, she drifted into sleep where no rejection or mocking male engines existed.

* * *

To be continued…


	9. The Early Bird

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 9:

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, Alex! Time to get to work!"

Alex groaned and squinted her eyes while getting used to the sharp morning sun. Arry had opened the shed doors and stood in front of her, jerking her coupling chain, eager to start the day. He was strangely perky and energetic this morning, she frowned.

"Since when did you become such an early-bird?!" she yawned and stretched. Her siderods creaked from the strain. She was usually the one who had to wake HIM up, not the other way round.

"Today! I'm a new and better man!" he said, pulling her chain to make her move.

"Hah! I'll believe that when I see it!" she grunted, following him to the yard. She biffed into the first truck, harder than she used to, working with aggressive moves.

"Now, who's the dark cloud?" he chuckled, referring to her comment about his mood when he was new to her yard.

"You dragged me out of my sleep this early, what do you expect?!" she grumbled, brutally pushing some coal-trucks towards him. It was his turn to go to the coaling plant with them. They bumped into his buffers, causing a cloud of coal-dust to puff up. They were empty, but hadn't been properly cleaned.

Arry was covered in dust, but still laughed and was in a disgustingly good mood as he pulled them out of the shunting yard.

Alex stared after him until he rounded the bend, then she couldn't hold back anymore. She just let the tears flow, making her make-up run. She didn't care if it made her look terrible, nobody cared about her anyway. Except Mr. Scott, but he was a human and didn't count. Oh, how she would have given her left siderod to get a friend, someone to talk to, someone who didn't mock her, but supported her and comforted her when she needed it. Arry had been like that for a while, but he had suddenly turned against her yesterday. He was so disappointed in him, she wanted to scream.

"What's wrong, Alex? Are you in pain?" Mr. Scott's soft voice said as he walked up to her and placed a hand on her cheek.

"No…" she sighed, blinking away her tears. "I… I feel a bit lonely."

"Even with Arry here?" Scott sat down on her buffer-beam, leaning his face against hers to comfort her.

"Especially with him around." She mumbled.

"I thought you to get along now? Did you have a falling out?"

"You can say so…" she sniffled, letting Scott dry her tears and wipe away her runny mascara.

"What was it about, if you don't mind telling me…?" he said softly.

"I'm not even sure… We were talking and having a good time and suddenly we started throwing insults at each other and he started being downright mean to me… and I ran off, and when I came back he was just terrible, laughing at me and mocking me! I hate him!"

"No, you don't" Scott smiled. "I think you like him… a whole lot! Or else he wouldn't be able to make you cry like that over some bickering. You're tougher than that, I know… so…am I right?"

"Maybe… I don't know… I'm confused." She whispered. "I had a crush on Den at Vicarstown dieselworks… and I thought Arry was my friend… but when we talked about it last night, he started acting like a complete jackass!"

"Wait a minute… am I getting you right? You talked to Arry about your crush on Den?" Scott chortled and had to cough to pull himself together. He was starting to get a picture now.

"Yeah… I might have rubbed it in a little too… he was so mean, and I wanted to get back at him." Alex admitted.

Mr. Scott chuckled. "Oh, Alex… my sweet girl… you do understand that you threw gasoline on the fire, right? He's jealous… and jealousy can make a man quite despicable if provoked."

Alex snorted. "He's not jealous, he's just a jerk! He has made it very clear to me that he doesn't like me! He constantly talks shit about my looks and personality!"

Scott smiled and blinked at her. "If you two were humans, you would be the girl every boy has a crush on, and Arry would be the boy from the schoolyard who is constantly pulling your pigtails to get your attention… Even I can smell the pheromones here, Alex!"

"If he wants my attention there are hundreds of better ways to do it! He's an adult and should act like one, not like a damn kid!" she snarled.

Mr. Scott jumped down on the ground again, blinking at her one last time before he walked back to his office.

Alex snorted, going back to work. It was rather quiet day though, not much to do, so she just took and extra round to see if everything was in order, moving some of the trucks now and then, just to do something.

She hissed inside as she heard Arry cheerfully whistling on a melody as he came back from the coaling plant. He smiled big at her, like he had just won a lottery or something. Did he really get that much joy from seeing her miserable?!

"Have you been crying, Alex? Your eyes are sore." He asked friendly.

"No! I have allergies…" she tried to cover up.

"Allergies, huh? What are you allergic to?"

"I'm allergic to YOU!" she barked and trundled off to be alone. She really didn't have any plan on where to go, she just thundered down the line as far away from him as possible.

She threw a glance over to Sodor as she passed the spot where she had taken Arry when he was homesick.

"I really hope you guys will take back your damned, rude shunter soon!" she hissed, continuing down the line.

Arry raised an eyebrow as she sped away, but shrugged and parked himself in the shade. The sun was really scorching today.

He regretted being so mean to Alex the other day, but he just wasn't able to apologize. If he did, she might find out that he was interested in her, more than just her friendship.

The past weeks, he had become intrigued by her personality, her wits and how she always came up with a stinging reply if he teased her.

He was drawn to her like a magnet, no matter how much he fought against it.

She was haunting his mind day and night… especially at night. He had woken up, having left a sticky, oily stain between the rails more than one time. She had a major role in his wet dreams lately.

He grinned, wondering what she would have said if she had known. She would probably be disgusted, she had made it clear that she didn't like ironworkers, hazard-stripes or facial hair…

"Ironically, she has hazard-stripes herself…" he chortled to himself.

He knew he had taken it a bit too far last night, but he had been so butthurt when she started talking about Den, he just hadn't been able to control himself. He wanted to push her into the mud and hold her down until she forgot everything about everyone else.

When she had run off to Vicarstown, his heart had been shattered into tiny pieces, he was so sure everything was over. If Den had returned her affection, he would have been out of the picture for good, and worse yet, he would probably have to witness her loving someone else, kissing another male, bringing another male to her shed, forcing him to stay outside while she and her boyfriend explored each other behind closed doors. The thought made him cringe.

When she had returned, telling that Den had rejected her, he had been so relieved. But still he wasn't able to be a good friend and be nice to her. She had hurt him bad and he wanted her to cook in her own oil after that. His mood had improved a lot though, he had felt uplifted and energetic, waking up early. He couldn't recall the last time he had woken up this early and actually wanted to work.

If Alex didn't like him, he could at least work side by side with her. And as long as she wasn't seeing someone, his jealousy would be kept at bay. He wanted Alex all by himself, protect her, keep her from harm, fight for her, be with her, kiss her… he had never felt like this before. He knew he had to work with that jealousy of his, he didn't want to act like psycho every time she looked at another male. In his previous relationships, he had been rather indifferent if anyone showed his girl any interest. But this time it was different.

He knew he couldn't own her, and he had to work on this. First he had to win her friendship back, then he could at least try to be a supportive friend. And if she dragged a boyfriend home, he was going to suppress his jealousy and be happy on her behalf, no matter how much it would hurt.

Because he knew it would hurt to see her with someone else…

* * *

Bert was finally released from the dieselworks, feeling a lot better. Fat Hatt had been there when he woke up and told him about his plans for Arry, it had made his day. He had even been able to smile after that. Dart had even brought him news from the shunter Arry was working with at the mainland, she had come to visit. It was that pink, tattooed and pierced diesel that had come trundling into the shed yesterday when he was having his generator overlooked.

He didn't know why, but when she mentioned his brother's name, he had just blacked out, not wanting to talk to her. He had hidden himself in his shed and stayed there until Dart dragged him out to finish his work on him.

Now he regretted not talking to her and ask her out about Arry. But at least he knew Arry was doing fine and also doing a good job over there… and that he wasn't going to stay there permanently.

Uplifted, he thundered towards the ironworks. Home!

Fat Hatt had told him to take it easy and not overdo things from now on. Still, he was planning on working hard, but this time he would listen to his body.

He wasn't going to push it too far this time.

* * *

To be continued…


	10. The Norwegian Diesel

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 10: The Norwegian Diesel

* * *

Arry drove back and forth through the shunting yard, today's work was finished long ago and there was nothing left to do. But what worried him most was that Alex still hadn't returned after she stormed off. And now it was getting dark.

Mr. Scott came outside. "Where is Alex?"

"I don't know, Sir. She insulted me and thundered off… I haven't seen her since." Arry replied, looking so worried Scott had to smile at him. How could Alex NOT see that he cared for her?

"I'm sure she is safe, she often takes trips on her own, but she usually comes back before dark. Maybe we should go look for her?" Mr. Scott suggested.

"Mmm…" the hazard-striped diesel bit his lip, afraid of what he might find. Now that he knew about her engine failure, he was constantly nervous to find her dead somewhere. He didn't know if he could handle that.

Mr. Scott climbed inside his cab and they set off in the direction Arry last had seen her go.

Arry's pistons pounded hard from anxiety, what if she had derailed or was badly hurt? Or dead…? He tried to stop thinking about it, but his mind kept making up all the worst scenarios. He trembled, tensing up more and more.

"You ok, Arry? You're trembling…" Mr. Scott asked, peeking out to see if he saw any signs of Alex.

"I'm fine. It was just a cold breeze…" the iron-diesel said, not wanting to admit the actual reason to why he was so tense.

"Oh, really?" Mr. Scott chuckled to himself. He could read the diesel like an open book, it was kind of amusing to see the two shunters lurking around each other like lovesick teenagers, but none of them daring to take the first step, believing that the other despised them. He didn't plan on helping them, this was something they needed to sort out themselves.

An air-horn blew in distance, but it wasn't Alex' horn. Mr. Scott peeked out to see, Arry narrowed his eyes. It was a long, sleek diesel they had never seen before. First of all, she had only one buffer in front, it was a buffer of the modern type which also served as a coupling, but they had never seen an engine with only one. It reminded them of one of those battering rams of the old roman warships… except she wasn't a ship. Her face was also rather weird. She had her eyes on her windshield, making them extremely big. They were deep brown of color, with shades of green in them. Her mouth was under the buffer, and there was no nose to be seen. It looked freaky. She was also carrying a snow-plough, which seemed to be permanently welded to her. She was designed for carrying passengers without pulling coaches, like Pip and Emma, and like them, she was obviously built for speed. She was silver-grey with a thin blue line across her whole chassis, under the blue line was a thick red line. Her name was written in black on her side: Toyo. It was sure a strange name for an engine. Close to her name, she had a tribal tattoo, not so different from those Alex had. She had a livery that was completely unknown to them.

"NSB? What does that mean?" Arry whispered to Mr. Scott.

"I have no idea, never seen it before. The engine itself is also unknown to me…" Scott whispered back, staring at the diesel approaching. Now, they could also see that she was pulling something.

"It's Alex!" Arry blurted out, not able to hide his relief.

The stranger honked a greeting, sliding to a smooth stop beside them.

"Hello there! I believe this is someone you know? She told me she resides at a shunting yard not far from here." She said, her voice was deep for a female, but not deep enough to sound masculine. She also had a strange accent, sounding almost german, but not quite.

"Arry! Scott!" Alex yelled, relieved to see them. "I… I ran out of fuel… sorry if you guys got worried. Luckily Toyo here came across me and offered to pull me home."

"Hi, Toyo!" Mr. Scott greeted. "Thanks a lot for helping us out! I'm Lorenzo Scott, and this is Arry. He's not from here though, he's from Sodor. And you've already met Alex."

"Pleasure to meet you." The stranger said politely with her weird accent.

"Pardon me for being curious, but I've never seen that livery before. Where are you from?" Mr. Scott continued, he just HAD to know.

"Oh.. NSB. I'm from Norway, but my line is closed due to work on the line, so I was sent here to help out for a while. NSB means Norges Statbaner, which translates to something like Norway's State Railways. So, I've travelled far." Toyo answered, she seemed used to being questioned.

"Wow… is that why you're carrying a snow-plough?" Arry asked interested.

"Yes, Norway is an arctic country, we never know when there will be snow… sometimes we even have snow in summer, so instead of having the hassle of taking in on and off, all engines are permanently equipped with one. We can't remove them… even if we wanted. They're welded onto us." She chuckled.

"What kind of engine are you?" Mr. Scott studied her.

"NSB Class 93, tilting two-carriage diesel multiple unit. I'm used on the non-electrified stretches of the Norwegian railway network. The electric engines haven't overthrown us diesels quite yet." She grinned.

"Electric engines? So there aren't any steamies left in Norway?" Arry wondered.

"Not in regular operation. There are less than ten, and they run only for museums and such."

"Sounds like paradise…" Arry muttered imagining a world without arrogant steamies bullying the diesels. Completely ignoring the fact that the diesels also used to bully the steam engines.

"Why would you say that?" Toyo frowned confused by his statement. "We're all engines, we should all be equal. None is superior to the other."

"Mm… forget I said anything. You're right." Arry said meekly.

Alex rolled her eyes, fuming inside by his submissive attitude to the Norwegian diesel. It seemed like he had forgotten all about her, she was invisible. Only the Class 93 mattered, as if he had any chance at her. Alex snorted, not wanting to admit to herself that she was jealous.

"Are we going to get a move on? I'm getting tired…" she complained.

"Your girlfriend is getting impatient." Toyo smiled and threw a glance at Arry, uncoupling from Alex, so he could take over.

"She's not my girlfriend." Arry said quickly. A little too quickly in Alex' opinion.

"What a shame." Toyo blinked to him. "She's a real gem. You better ask her out before someone else snatches her before your eyes!"

Arry blushed, much to Alex' dismay. He was obviously dazzled by the newcomer. She rolled her eyes again as he backed and was coupled to her front coupling. Toyo could have him!

"I have to go! Bye, Mr. Scott, Arry. Bye, Alex, thanks for the talk! I hope we'll meet again. We girls need to stick together, you know." Toyo beamed and took off, speeding around the bend, tilting over to take advantage of the centripetal force to keep her speed even through sharp bends.

"Fascinating…" Mr. Scott muttered. "I've never seen a tilting train before."

"Wow…" Arry said stunned.

Alex bumped into him, annoyed and eager to go. She liked Toyo and hoped to see her again, but not when Arry was nearby. She didn't like how fascinated he was over the Norwegian diesel. It felt like someone had replaced her oil with acid, it burned her from inside.

They started to move, the two shunters didn't say a word to each other. Arry was still thinking of the strange engine and Alex was still fuming of jealousy.

"Oh, how glad you two seems to be over seeing each other!" Mr. Scott teased, trying to make them talk to each other again, breaking the ice.

"Hmph…" both engines snorted.

"Oh joy… this will be a cheerful and fun ride, won't it?" Scott rolled his eyes. "Why not enjoy the view? It's a nice starry night!"

"Yeah, I have a view to Arry's butt… and it's far from nice…" Alex grumbled, though she secretly enjoyed it. Now she could study his rear end shamelessly without him noticing, but she didn't want him to know. It was so much easier to insult him instead.

"Need I remind you that we're both Class 08 shunters and your butt is similar to mine?!" Arry snarled, feeling her remark sting painfully.

"Stop verbally abusing each other!" Scott scolded, not enjoying the mood between them. "Why be so mean against one another? You're co-workers! Be nice!"

"Hmph…" they grunted, thundering down the line in silence.

Scott sighed.

Nothing was said until they arrived back at the shunting yard. Arry pulled Alex over to the fueltank and scurried off to sulk in the shed.

"As usual…" Alex mumbled to herself. He had been acting weird since yesterday, maybe it was true what Scott said? That he was jealous? But she didn't believe he cared for her, he wouldn't have eyed the Norwegian diesel with such interest then, would he? Or was she only overreacting? Maybe his interest was just because he never had seen an engine like that before?

She didn't want to pry any deeper into it, she tried to suppress her interest in him so she wouldn't end up hurt by him rejecting her again.

"Screw you, Arry." she mumbled in his direction, knowing he couldn't hear her.

He didn't say anything to her when she backed into the shed next to him. She looked over, he avoided her stare.

"Toyo was sure an interesting engine, wasn't she?" Alex started, trying to find out what he was thinking.

"Mmm…?"

"You'd like to see her again?"

He didn't answer, just stared into the shed door. He didn't like the way this was going; it would probably end up in a quarrel as usual.

"At least she treated me with some respect. She didn't insult me in every second sentence she spoke." He grumbled.

Alex looked down, taking it to her heart. She had been rather mean to him too. They had such a good tune for a few days after their talk in the shed when he was so homesick, but it had been blown away when she ran off to the dieselworks yesterday.

"Whatever happened to us, Arry?" she said low. "Why can't we talk together without hurting each other?"

"You started it this time…" he grumbled, staring into the door.

"Let's not blame each other." she said, surprised to feel a tear rolling down her cheek. "Let's start fresh tomorrow, ok?"

"Mmm…" he didn't refuse her peace offering, though he didn't seem hopeful that it would work either.

"Ok then. Tomorrow will be a better day. Good night, Arry." she whispered with a shy smile.

"'Night, Alex."

* * *

To be continued…

A little guest appearance of my trainsona, Toyo (my nickname over at Deviantart). She's drawn in Pixar Cars style, so she doesn't quite fit in the TTTE-universe, probably looks like an alien to the other engines. XD This is her basis (without the spaces): s20 . photobucket user / siberianmo / media / Euro%20trains / Norwegian%20trains /c78bca66 . jpg . html OR here: mwuhr. deviantart / art / NSB-type-93-305449160


	11. Be mine!

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 11: Be mine!

* * *

Bert was feeling a lot better after returning from the dieselworks, he even managed to smile when Edward came to visit. Though he didn't stop working, he had found out that he actually enjoyed work. It felt great to have done a good job and look back at it at the end of the day.

"Afternoon, Bert!" Edward greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Better than ever!" the hazard-striped diesel replied with a smile, this surprised Edward. He was used to the ironworkers being rather hostile towards steam engines, but Bert seemed to have been transformed after his break down.

"Wow, what did they put in your oil back at the dieselworks? Drugs? You seem so different!" Edward chuckled.

"Nothing, I'm just high on life." Bert blinked, shunting away two empty flatbeds.

"I'm really glad to hear that, I was worried for you." The blue tank engine said serious.

Bert slid to a stop beside him.

"You saved my life, didn't you?" he asked, looking sideways at the older engine.

Edward blushed, he didn't like to talk about it as he was afraid it might sound like bragging.

"I know what you did." Bert said. "They told me, and I want you to know I am very thankful for what you did. I had hit rock bottom."

"You're welcome." Edward choked out, touched by the diesel's gratitude. "I hope Arry comes back soon, though you seem to be doing well on your own now."

"I know he will someday, but until then I will keep doing my best and be really useful. I want him to see that I haven't been slacking off while he was gone. Besides, it's actually quite fun to work."

Edward was still smiling when he left the scrapyard later. He was relieved that Bert wasn't depressed anymore and that he was taking a liking in his job. It seemed like Arry's absence was doing him good, he was more independent now, not having to rely on his brother to make all the decisions. The scrapyard was organized and in better shape than it had been in years.

The blue tank engine smiled. He didn't have to worry about Bert anymore. He was doing fine on his own.

* * *

On the mainland, Arry and Alex kept their promise to each other about starting over and be nicer to one another. They hadn't said a bad word to each other in over a week, and had slowly started to trust each other again.

It was really busy at the yards this day, but they were having fun, joking and chatting while working.

Arry grinned mischievous as he pushed an empty flatbed towards Alex. "Catch!"

Alex was caught off guard, but reacted quick enough to catch it smoothly.

"Nice one, Alex! My brother usually misses when he is taken by surprise like that." Arry shouted across the yard.

"Then I hope you're ready, because here it comes right back at you!" Alex giggled, sending the flatbed back.

Arry caught it, pushing it into the line with the others. They had soon cleaned up the whole yard.

"Wow, we're a great team, aren't we?" Alex said as they stood face to face, looking at a job well done.

"Definitely!" he smiled.

Alex looked at him. He was so handsome when he smiled, it made her pistons pound harder every time he looked at her. Her mouth was half-open, and she didn't realize she was staring at his lips, moving in closer, closing her eyes, but then jerking backwards. Now, he would mock her for it… she looked down, pretending like nothing, studying a rusty spot on the rails.

"Alex…" he said low, his deep voice sending sweet chills through her frame.

She looked up, meeting his stare. "Hmm?"

"Do you want me to kiss you?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes.

Alex didn't know what to answer. She wanted to say yes, but she didn't know if he was serious or not. If not, he would tease her an be spiteful and everything she hated about him… But if he was serious and she said no, she would have spoiled her chances. This was what she had dreamt of ever since she had discovered that she kindled feelings for him.

She pondered on, fighting her feelings, trying to sort them out. She peeked up at him, then coyly avoiding his stare.

"Ok, I didn't think so… you don't like ironworkers with hazard-stripes and stubble after all…"

He backed away, with an expression she wasn't able to make out. She panicked, he couldn't leave her like this! She wet her lips.

"Arry! Wait!" she said, looking at him almost pleadingly.

He stopped, looking at her with an indifferent expression. It made her unsure if he had been serious or not, he was so confusing sometimes.

"Well, do you?" he asked again, looking at her like he was just asking her to take an extra flatbed to the siding or something completely unimportant.

She looked at him with a helpless stare, wanting to say yes, but not being able to let the simple word escape her lips. She swallowed hard.

"No?" he was teasing her now, starting to back away again. But he had seen it in her eyes, she wanted it. He just wanted to hear her say it.

"Arry!" she whimpered, moving after him.

He stopped, raising an eyebrow at her. He was not going to make it easy for her.

"It's your call, Alex. Just say yes and I will do it."

She almost didn't dare to breathe, her pistons pounded almost painfully, her oil felt hot, like she was going to overheat.

"Yes… kiss me, Arry. Please." she begged, breathing light and shallow, not daring to move. Would he laugh and tell her it was a joke now? She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the spite in his eyes.

Then she felt his lips softly brushing over hers, tasting her carefully. She gasped for air, her pistons skipped a beat. With a relieved sight, she replied, softly giving him a quick and shy kiss back. They kept on going like this for a while, getting braver for each kiss until their lips were locked in a deep craving kiss from the bottom of their hearts. She moaned, feeling a tingling in her undercarriage.

It was happening… it was finally happening! she thought, feeling how the oil ran hot inside her. Her wheels were trembling, like they couldn't hold her weight anymore, she felt weak, but in a sweet, delightful way.

She got braver, slipping her tongue into his mouth, playing with him.

"Tongue-piercing too, huh?" he chuckled into her mouth, letting his tongue play with the round metal bead. It made her feel dizzy from arousal and joy. Her whole body trembled.

With a loud bang, Alex' wheels couldn't hold her up anymore, she slumped down on the tracks, blushing embarrassed, grinning goofily to Arry as she pulled herself together and stood up again.

"I… guess I should take it as a compliment." Arry chuckled, helping her up by pulling her coupling chain.

"Yes! Definitely! Kiss me again, Arry! I need it!" she panted, staring into his eyes. She wanted more, much more. Every feeling she had kept bottled up for so long was finally released, and it was overwhelming. Her axles still felt weak and her wheels was wobbly, her whole body trembled.

Her generator box sparked as their lips locked again in a deeper and more passionate kiss this time.

"Wow, about time!" a voice chuckled somewhere beside them.

They literally flew apart, caught by surprise, forgetting that they were coupled together with their coupling chains, the chains made them stop and jerked them back, like a rubber band, making them bump into each other. They quickly uncoupled, moving away from each other, blushing, looking down at the tracks.

Mr. Scott giggled. "Don't be shy. I am happy on your behalf; it was about time you two got your eyes up for each other! Everyone else saw that you two are made for each other, except you two. Congratulations!"

Both engines blushed deeper, grinning shy. It felt awkward being caught while making out, though they should have expected it as they stood out in the open.

Mr. Scott nudged Alex and whispered to her.

"We need more shunters here… so please make lots of babies!" he teased.

"Scotty!" she gasped, blushing intense red, peeking up at Arry who just grinned.

"Oh, Alex. Don't pretend all innocent with me. I know you two won't be able to resist… and well, we need a new shunter, so maybe I should lock you two up in the shed until you've made me one…" he blinked, joking. He and Alex had often made dirty jokes over the years, they were only halfway serious. Though he wouldn't have minded having her offspring in the yard. He knew too well that he would lose her one day, and it would have eased the sorrow if she could live on in a son or daughter.

Arry immediately picked up the innuendo, finding it amusing.

"I'll do my best, Mr. Scott." He chuckled, blinking flirty to Alex.

Alex laughed, but still blushed deeply as Mr. Scott walked away laughing. She and Arry had just hooked up, she admitted she had been thinking dirty thoughts about him for weeks already, but it was far too early to bash buffers yet. At least she felt it that way, and she hoped the iron-diesel would respect that.

"Ok… that was embarrassing, but kind of fun too." She snickered, looking after Scott. Her boss had broken the magic, but it also felt good to have his approval. Though she knew he was a bit nicer to her than he normally would have been since she was terminally ill. He wanted her to enjoy everything life had to give. Before it was too late… she thought and swallowed hard.

Then Arry kissed her softly, soothing her pain and sweeping the painful thoughts away. She gave in, closing her eyes, sighing in delight as they started another make-out session.

They broke away after what seemed like an eternity, looking at each other with glossy eyes, both feeling the oil run hot inside them, aroused and happy.

"I guess we should go back to work…" Arry said, trying to loosen his coupling chain from her.

"No… not yet…" she panted, pulling him back into another kiss. She couldn't get enough. "I've longed for this… and I need to kiss you as much as I can before you change your mind… or I wake up from this dream…"

Arry moaned into her mouth, having a hard time resisting the urge to push her into their shed and spend the rest of the day behind locked doors, pleasing her in every way possible. But he didn't want to rush things. If it had been any other girl, maybe… but Alex deserved better. He was going in her pace, he was ready to submit to her, let her be in charge. He belonged to her from now on, and he didn't mind. He, the engine who never backed down or accepted being bossed around, was willing to give it all up for her. He would follow her to hell and back if she asked him to.

"I won't change my mind…" Arry breathed in between the kisses. "I've never been so sure about something in my whole life."

"Then kiss me like you mean it…" she whispered, staring deep into his eyes.

And so he did.

* * *

To be continued…


	12. Brothers in arms

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 12: Brothers in arms

* * *

Life on the mainland became a lot merrier after that first kiss and all the ones that followed. Now that they no longer tried to push each other down in the dirt, but worked together as a team, they got a lot more work done in less time. And the extra spare time was either used on taking drives around the nearby area or spent in the shed exploring each other. Alex had given up on her own thoughts about it being too early to consummate their relationship… They had been able to stay on their own places in the shed the first night, but then the temptation grew too big. They usually ended up sleeping buffer to buffer every night after that, sweaty and satisfied, enjoying the afterglow.

Alex felt better than she had done in a long time, she hardly ever thought of her engine failure, though it sometimes popped up in her mind while making out or having sex; "is this the last time…?".

Arry showed more of his true self now, she found out that she had been wrong about him on many points. He turned out to be a humorous and fun guy, with lot of life in him. He was also warmhearted, at least towards her, but he sometimes displayed his darker sides towards other engines. She didn't like it, but accepted that it was part of his personality. She wouldn't try to change him, it would be wrong and unfair. She fell in love with him the way he was, and changing him would mean changing those things she fell for.

"A barrel of diesel for your thoughts." Arry chuckled as he passed her with a long train of flatbeds going to the docks.

She looked up, smiling. She had been deep in thought.

Yesterday she had overheard Mr. Scott talking on the phone about a shunter for sale, it made her heart sink. She knew Arry was only here for a period, and that he would leave when Mr. Scott had bought another shunter to help out at the yards, but still she had been able to push the thought away, until she heard him on the phone.

She couldn't help but wonder how the other shunter would be like. Was it female or male? Friendly or not?

And then the last thought, who made her feel like she was cheating on Arry, was it good-looking?

She had no idea what to do when Arry returned to Sodor. Would it mean the end of their relationship or should they attempt a long-distance relationship? And if so, would they both manage to stay faithful, or would they give in to temptation if they met someone else?

She cringed by the thought of Arry with another girl, even the thought of his exes pained her. She didn't know who they were and didn't intend on finding out, but knowing that there had been girls in his life before her was strangely painful. She knew she had no right to feel like that, the past shouldn't influence their relationship. She wasn't innocent herself either, she had others before him, and the thought didn't seem to bother Arry.

She looked up as an engine came rumbling into the yards, she lit up, seeing a familiar face.

"Back already, Arry?" she raced over to greet him with a kiss.

To her surprise, he jerked backwards with a panicked look on his face, looking around.

"Uhh… I'm not Arry… but I am looking for him." The hazard-striped shunter said.

Alex blushed, but couldn't help but giggle. She had done exactly what she had been talking to Arry about earlier; mistaken the twins and kissed the wrong one.

"Sorry about that! Welcome to my yard, Bert!" she chuckled. "I usually don't greet visitors that way…"

Bert grinned. "I forgive you… I never turn down a kiss from a gorgeous brood."

Alex blushed again, this time because she wasn't used to compliments. Not even Arry had complimented her upon their first meeting.

"I've been thinking of you ever since you came to the dieselworks some weeks ago… I apologize for my behavior; I wasn't myself back then." He explained.

"Don't think about it, Bert. Dart told me about your condition. I recon you are here to visit Arry?"

"Yes, is he around?"

"He just left to deliver some flatbeds to the docks, but he should be back soon." Alex said studying Arry's twin-brother. "Wow, you two are almost identical!"

"Mmm… I know. I hear it all the time." Bert mumbled, feeling a bit uncomfortable about it.

"There is a God!" Alex chuckled. "I've must have been a really good girl since he sent two smoking hot guys into my yards! Sweet mercy!"

Now it was Bert's turn to blush, not quite sure how to react to her flirting. "Uhh… I… well…"

"Don't worry, I'm taken and I don't plan on cheating on him. It's your brother by the way." She blinked.

"Oh… congrats…" Bert said, looking down both happy and saddened. If Arry had gotten a girlfriend, he might not want to leave the mainland when his work here was done.

"I can see what you're thinking, Bert. I won't hold Arry back… and I don't think he'd give you up for me. The family-bonds are strong within you two." Alex said low.

"I… I wish he didn't have to choose. I like you and I am happy for you two, but I can't stand the thought of losing my brother." Bert admitted.

They didn't get more time to talk as Arry came thundering back into the yard, brightening up with a huge smile as he saw his brother standing there.

"Bert!" he yelled, racing over, bashing into his brother's buffers laughing happy. "I've missed you!"

"Arry!" Bert chuckled, bumping him back. "You have no idea how much I've missed you too!"

Alex chuckled by the reunion, sneaking away to let them have this moment alone. It warmed her heart to see how strong the two brothers felt for each other. It made her wish that she had siblings herself.

Smiling, she drove into her shed to take a nap.

* * *

Arry and Bert took a drive around the area, Arry wanted to show his twin the place Alex had taken him when he was homesick. Also they had a lot to talk about.

"Fat Hatt gave me a day off to visit you. He felt bad for me after I broke down, so he wanted to cheer me up a bit. He is no longer angry at us for what happened to his car, he said." Bert chatted along the way, happy to be with his brother again. "I have to go back this afternoon though, it's a long drive back to Sodor."

"I understand, but I am glad you came. I've really missed you!" Arry said, looking sideways at his twin. "The first time here was pure crap… Alex and I didn't really get along and I was really homesick."

"You two seem to get along just fine now… Even I enjoyed the benefits! She kissed me when I arrived, thinking I was you!" Bert chuckled.

"You rascal! I bet you enjoyed it!" Arry smiled.

"Yeah, it wasn't bad. I'm almost jealous." Bert blinked to him. "Maybe I should visit more often, derailing you somewhere so I could pretend being you, to fool Alex to kiss me again?"

"Just you dare!" Arry chortled, not taking him seriously.

"Yeah, she would probably blow my cover as I am a far more skilled lover than you…" Bert teased. "Maybe she would ditch you for me instead?"

"More skilled, my ass!" Arry laughed, switching tracks, chasing him down, rubbing his bumper violently. "Who's more skilled? Say it! Say it!"

Bert laughed loud and heartfelt by the rubbing, it tickled. "You are! YOU ARE!" he gasped. "Please stop!"

Arry stopped and allowed Bert to catch his breath. They still sniggered, happy to see each other.

Bert turned serious. "Arry… what will you do when Fat Hatt calls you home? I mean… what about Alex?"

Arry looked down. "I have tried not to think so much about that… It will be hard to leave her and a part of me wants to stay here with her, but I belong on Sodor with you. We're a team. So I either have to break up with her or we have to attempt a long-distance relationship… though those hardly works out over time… if not Scott and Fat Hatt gives us some time off to visit each other now and then…"

Bert bit his lip. "So you never considered leaving Sodor and settle down here?"

"No. I could never leave Sodor, I am too strongly tied to that island and you. We're brothers in arms, we're a team." Arry said serious, feeling with his whole heart that it was true.

"A team. Like the steamies. They call themselves "The Really Useful Crew", you know that?" Bert snorted.

"Yeah, I guess that makes us "The Really Useless Crew" then… isn't that how the steamies look at us diesels?" Arry chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

Bert laughed, but turned serious again. "How about Alex? How would she feel about moving to Sodor? I mean… Mr. Scott is going to buy another shunter isn't he? Maybe he would let Alex join you when you go home?"

"I don't think so… maybe she wants to, but he would never let her go. She grew up here, he loves her like a daughter. Even if her engine failure would get worse and make her useless, he would never want to scrap her or send her away." Arry said thoughtful. "But maybe he would let her come to visit me sometimes."

"Then I will lock you up in our shed and tell her I'm you." Bert teased, nudging his buffers.

"Ha ha! Like you said, she'll notice the difference in our skills." Arry blinked to him.

"Pff… I haven't heard any of the girls who has been visiting me lately, complain over my skills…" Bert sniggered recalling how some of the female engines had wanted to cheer him up after he came home from the dieselworks.

"So, you've been seeing someone too?" Arry said curious. "Who?"

"No no, it's not like that… they just wanted to cheer me up a bit." Bert grinned. "So Rosie and Mavis came over one night… and well, they DID cheer me up… he he."

"You lucky basterd!" Arry chuckled. "Two girls at the same time! Every man's dream!"

"Who are you to complain? You have Alex. I've never seen a hotter engine!" Bert chortled.

"Mmm… I guess I shouldn't. She's great." Arry said, getting a dreamy look on his face.

"Snap out of it, bro. We shouldn't waste the little time we have together dreaming of girls. Come on! Let's race!" Bert bumped him with a cheeky grin.

"Ha! You'll lose, and you know it!" Arry grinned as they placed themselves side by side, getting ready to race.

"Not if I cheat!" Bert said and sped away.

"Hey!" Arry yelled and sped after him.

They both laughed and thundered down the line. They were reunited, even if it was just for one day, it was like a vitamin-pill to them both.

* * *

To be continued…


	13. Working day and night

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 13: Working day and night…

* * *

Arry backed into the shed with a big smile that night, it had been wonderful to see his brother again. They had raced around and had a lot of fun, but also had some deeper conversations in between all the games. It had been the best day since he came to the mainland… or the second best, he corrected himself looking over to Alex who were dozing. The best was the day they kissed for the first time.

His wheels were aching after the racing and work, he yawned. He was so tired; he could fall asleep on the spot.

He smiled to himself when Alex slid out of her berth, moving over to his. Maybe not THAT tired… he grinned.

"Had a great day, Arry?" she whispered, touching his lips lightly with hers.

"Mm… it was nice to see my brother again." He kissed her softly.

"I bet you're tired then?" she chuckled seductive. "You must really want to sleep, huh?"

"Mmm… very." He knew she was teasing him, so he played along.

"I better go back to my berth then…?" she blinked, biting his lower lip lightly.

"Yeah, you should…" he teased back, shutting her up with a hungry kiss.

She moaned into his mouth, pressing herself against him. Using her tongue to tease him just the way she knew he liked it. His breathing got heavier, his eyes became dark from lust.

She leaned her forehead against his, panting as he placed small kisses all over her face, giving him the same treatment before their lips locked again.

Then she broke away and backed outside.

"I forgot… You're tired of course! Too tired for this." She blinked playfully as she backed, leaving him aroused and puzzled.

"Hey, you little….!" He chased after her, having trouble moving as she had aroused him quite a lot already. He managed to slip his coupling chain onto her hook and pull her back into the shed.

"I'm not letting you get away with this!" he whispered hot against her lips.

She chuckled as she shut the doors behind them, locking them carefully. Then she turned her attention back to her hazard-striped lover.

If anyone stood outside their shed that night, they would probably have blushed by the noises coming from inside. But the only witnesses to what the two lovers were doing was the moonlight and the seagulls, and none of them would tell anyone.

* * *

Mr. Scott came running across the yard the next day, making Alex and Arry stop working and looking at him as he approached.

"Arry? Do you have any experience pulling passengers?" he yelled from a distance.

Arry jerked back, looking uncomfortable. "Uhh… no… never done it before."

"Well, then this will be your first time." Mr. Scott stated, walking the last meters towards the two shunters.

Alex started working again as this didn't concern her, leaving Arry and Scott alone.

"You see… that diesel we met a while ago, her engine failed while taking passengers to Barrow-in-Furness, she needs to get that checked out, but before that, her passengers needs to be dropped off at the station. Can you pull her there and then bring her to the dieselworks?"

"As you wish, sir." Arry muttered, not too happy about it. Pulling passengers felt scary, he was afraid not to be smooth and careful enough. It wasn't like coal-trucks that could be biffed and bashed and treated rather rough.

He put back the flatbed he had been coupled to, getting ready to go when he noticed Alex staring at him.

She smiled weak and insecure. She had heard what it was about, and didn't feel too comfortable about him meeting the Norwegian diesel again alone. Swallowing hard, she tried to cover up her feelings.

"Say hello to Toyo from me…" she said with a small smile.

Arry suddenly understood what was bothering her and quickly oiled over, kissing her passionately.

"I'll be back before you know it." He said as he drove towards the mainline. "And Alex… have faith in me."

Alex blushed as she realized he had read her like an open book.

Arry hurried in the direction Scott had told him, soon seeing a rather gloomy Toyo standing on the rails. She peeked up as he came thundering down the line, smiling tired.

"Hi, Arry." She coughed. "I don't know what happened, but I am not able to move…"

"I'll take you to Vicarstown as soon as we've dropped off your passengers, Toyo." Arry said. He looked around to find a place to turn around, but couldn't find any. He coupled to her, grinning awkward as they had to go front to front. Toyo just smiled back, thankful that someone was helping her.

"How is Alex?" she suddenly asked. "Doing well, I hope?"

"Alex?" Arry was taken by surprise by the question, blushing. "Well… I… she's fine."

Toyo laughed, blinking to him. "I see… you finally mustered up the courage to ask her out?"

"Umm… not really… it just happened." He stuttered, feeling a bit uncomfortable standing face to face with another female and talking about his girlfriend.

"I know… that's how it is when something is meant to be. Congrats!" Toyo chuckled.

"Thanks." Arry didn't know what more to say about the matter. He tried to think hard of something to talk about.

Toyo giggled, seeing how he was trying to start a conversation. "We don't have to talk you know… I've already understood that you're not really the chattiest guy around."

Arry blushed deeply. "Sorry… I…"

"No need to be sorry. It's no shame in being introvert." She chuckled. "I am usually not so talkative myself… I only blabber on when I am nervous."

"I'm making you nervous?" Arry raised an eyebrow.

"No… just the whole setting. Foreign country, new places, new people, new engines… breaking down for no reason. It never happened to me back home, so why did it have to happen now? Not very impressive, huh?"

"I understand… sort of. I'm new here too. I haven't broken down though…"

They arrived at the station, dropping off all the passengers. Arry grabbed the chance to turn at a sidetrack, it didn't feel so intimate when he didn't have to be face to face with her. And they would soon pass the shunting yard, he didn't want Alex to get the wrong idea.

"Tell me about Norway." He begged as he started pulling her, heading for the dieselworks. It would be a long drive, but he had filled up on fuel this morning, so it should be enough.

"Ok, but then you have to tell me about Sodor afterwards." She said behind him.

"Deal." He agreed, looking into the shunting yard as they passed by, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alex. He spotted her behind a coal truck, hooting his air-horn as they rattled past the yard. She honked back.

* * *

Bert was standing together with a group of steamies at Tidmoth sheds, wondering how he had ended up there. He, the diesel nobody wanted to be near, was suddenly accepted into their group. They included him in the talk, being nice. It felt surreal, but sort of good.

Edward had invited him, the other steam engines had been a bit aloof at first, but they had soon accepted him and let him stay with them, treating him like a friend, telling jokes and stories. They even listened to him, like he was one of them. It felt nice, being together with other engines without all the tension and aggression lingering in the air like it used to before when he and Arry came too close. It also felt a bit weird and scary to be social without Arry as emotional support. He was on his own, making friends without his brother being a part of it. It also felt a bit sad, like they were going separate ways from now on… having separate lives.

Edward looked at him. "You ok?"

Bert smiled. "I'm fine, just wish that Arry could be a part of this too. We haven't really… you know… had friends that are not diesels until now. I'm sorry we have been so mean to you guys… you're actually alright."

James looked over, smiling friendly. He had been the one who had held most grudge towards the diesels, but he had loosened up. "Well… we haven't treated you two nice either."

"I hope we all can put it behind us now." Edward added in. Everyone agreed to that.

"We're all fellow engines. Diesels or steamies, we are all useful engines." Henry said mildly.

Mavis oiled up to Bert's side, purring flirty. "Want to… help me out at the quarry tonight?"

Bert grinned, it didn't seem like the other engines understood her innuendo. Except Rosie who quickly chugged over with a cheeky smile. "Can I help too?"

"I'm sure there is more than enough for both of us…" Mavis chuckled, looking at Bert.

"I don't mind a little extra work…" Bert said neutral, so the other engines wouldn't understand what they were really talking about.

"We can help you out at the scrapyard another day… to repay the favor." Mavis suggested, also sounding like they were discussing work.

"Yeah, it must be boring, working all alone there. Especially the late shifts…" Rosie added in.

"Of course it's not fun working alone, but sometimes it has to be done…" Bert said, only the two females understood the dirty undertone.

"Poor you. I bet it must be hard." Rosie said in sympathy. "The work I mean…"

"It's not so bad… once in a while…" Bert grinned. "It takes a little longer to finish the job when one is alone, though."

"Don't be shy to ask for help, when the pressure is too much…" Mavis said. "Work pressure can get quite intense sometimes, it can be hard to think of anything else than get the job done… no matter how long it takes. It's always nice to get a little help."

"What are you guys talking about?" Edward wondered, sensing the dirty undertone.

"Work!" all three said in unison, then going back to innocent talk about the quarry, slate-trucks and shunting.

"Sure you are…" Edward grinned and rolled his eyes, hoping Thomas and Toby didn't understand what was going on between the trio. He looked over to them, but they were listening to one of Percy's stories and not paying attention to anything else.

* * *

To be continued…


	14. Rude awakening

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 14:

* * *

Arry took a deep breath as they crossed the bridge over to Vicarstown, he was back home… at Sodor, even if it was just for a short moment to drop off another engine.

"Well… this is my home." He said to Toyo, drawing in the familiar scents from the island. There was another fauna here than on the mainland, making it smell different.

"It looks beautiful." The tilting diesel said behind him. "I hope I'll be able to visit sometime and have a look around."

"Mmm…" Arry felt the homesickness hit him hard, he didn't want to leave, but they were waiting for him on the mainland. And if he ran away from his job there, The Fat Controller and Mr. Scott would be very cross with him, possibly extending his trial there. Then he would never see his brother again. He had to behave… even how hard it was. And then there was Alex… the only reason he was able to stay sane on the mainland.

He tried to take in as much as possible while they thundered towards Vicarstown and the dieselworks, catching as much of his homeland before he had to leave again. Oh, how he wished he could have gone to Killdane and visit Bert! But there was no time for that now…

"You ok, Arry? You suddenly stopped talking…" Toyo said concerned. He had been quite a chatterbox on the way over here, but it had stopped all of a sudden when they set their wheels on sudrian soil.

"Mm… just a bit homesick, that's all."

Toyo decided to leave him alone, just look around and recall what he had been telling her while they drove here. It was a really beautiful island, quite unlike her homecountry. Norway was beautiful too, but in a different way. Norway was more… un-tamed and wild. Short, green, warm and vivid summers and long, icy, snowy and hostile winters. The summers in Norway was short, but they came strangely fast when they first came… it was like spring never came, it just went from snow one day and then BANG! It was summer the next day. At least that's how it felt… Toyo loved all seasons in her country, they were all so pretty in their own way. She especially loved the fall high up in the mountains, with all its vibrant colors and changing weather. She even loved the winter, especially when she had to plough through powdery, glittery snow on a blistering cold but sunny day.

"I have to admit… I'm a bit homesick myself…" she mumbled, longing back to the arctic country.

They didn't speak much more, soon they drove through the tunnel leading to the canyon where the dieselworks were located.

Den and Dart welcome them, they knew they were coming. They had gotten a phonecall from the mainland this morning.

"Nice to see you again, Arry!" Dart smiled as Den shunted Toyo into the main shed. "How's life on the mainland?"

"It's ok, Dart… I'm homesick, but I'll manage." The hazard-striped diesel said, feeling sad that he had to return right away. He wanted to stay a while and talk, but then he wouldn't get back to the mainland until morning.

"I also heard you found a girl over there." Dart smirked and blinked to him. "I guess that makes your stay over there a little easier?"

"Definitely!" Arry smiled by the thought of the pink female shunter who had won his heart. "You've met her; I think… or at least Den has…"

Arry grit his teeth by the last thought, he knew about her former crush on Den. Even though it didn't matter to their relationship, it still stung him a bit. Den looked a lot better than himself, cleaner and less weathered… and smart, even if he came off as a bit slow.

"Oh! It was HER?! That pink tomboy who visited us briefly a while ago? Alex… with the engine failure." Dart was surprised. "I don't know what she was here for, but she was looking for Den. She left in a hurry."

"Hmph…" Arry didn't want to explain to the tiny diesel. He didn't like to think of it at all, he didn't want to know what had been going on between Den and Alex that night.

"I would never have guessed… I remember her calling you a total jerk when she was her." Dart chuckled.

"She did, huh?" Arry grinned goofily. He hadn't been nice to her that day, so it was understandable why she would have called him that.

"She must have had a sudden change of heart then… Den tried to hide it, but he had lipstick marks after she left." Dart pondered on, then blushing in shame. Arry probably didn't appreciate hearing that.

And he was right… Arry didn't like it at all, in fact everything in him was fighting against the urge to find Den and beat the grease out of him.

"But it could be from someone else…" Dart whimpered, trying to smooth over what he just had said. "His girlfriend perhaps… or maybe Daisy wanted to thank him for some repairs or…"

"I suggest you just shut up now, Dart." Arry snarled, glaring in the direction of the main shed.

"Please, Arry. I didn't mean to… I talk too much sometimes… I… sorry." The tiny shunter stuttered, moving in front of the iron-diesel as if to stop him from going after Den. He feared that the ironworker might be violent… he knew about his past history and how he used to treat other engines, such as Stepney. He shuddered.

"You have mouth-diarrhea." Arry groaned and looked down at him with narrowed eyes. "It's not always a good thing…"

"Please don't hurt Den… he didn't do anything wrong… I am sure! Please, Arry… don't be mad… don't hurt him!"

The tiny shunter looked at him pleadingly.

"I. Won't." Arry growled, looking down at the little diesel in front of him, then he threw one last glance at the main shed, turned and thundered away at full speed.

The iron-diesel no longer noticed his surroundings as he rushed through the landscape, the inner images of Alex and Den kissing was getting in the way of everything else. He barely noticed where he was going. He knew it shouldn't bother him, it was the past… but it did.

He slammed on his brakes as another engine came chugging towards him on the same track. It was Rosie, she screeched to a stop in front of him, looking surprised and startled.

"Arry?! Is that really you?!" she peeped and then lit up in a smile, nudging his buffer friendly. "Are you back?"

"Hi, Rosie. No, just visiting… I dropped off another engine at the works. I'm on my way back to the mainland…" he said, sounding gruff.

"Oh… I hope you'll be back soon. We miss you at the quarry." She said friendly.

"Really?" he snorted sarcastic. "You miss me…? The diesel everyone loathes…"

"We don't… your brother has made us change our opinions on you two… he is actually quite nice." She chattered along.

"What did you do to him?" Arry grumbled, not really liking the idea of his brother getting friendly with the steamies, even though he knew that his brother had been intimate with Rosie. He had told him that when he visited him on the mainland.

"Nothing… he just changed after he broke down, like he got another view on life."

"Hmph!"

"I'm sure you're a nice guy too… at the bottom." The lavender steam engine peeped.

"Yeah… it's a shame it's such a long way down to the bottom…" Arry snorted and tried to switch to another track, but she blocked his way by driving forward.

"Oh, come on… we look forward to you coming back." She blinked flirty to him. "Your brother might need some help… two girls might be a little too much to handle, you know."

"I'm sure he'll manage…" Arry snarled. "I'm taken."

It felt strange, but also right to say it. He was taken. By Alex. In his previous relationships he hadn't been faithful to his girlfriends, never letting a chance of a one-night stand slip away. But this time it was different, it didn't feel right to drive behind Alex' back like that. He felt with all his heart that he belonged to her. He would never cheat on her.

"Really?! Wow! That's awesome!" Rosie beamed, darting forward, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Congrats!"

"Thanks…" he mumbled, looking away. He wanted to get back to the shunting yard and see Alex again, hear her say that she loved him, kiss her… and know that she was his. He needed her now, after hearing about her and Den. He needed her to tell him that she was over Den… that it was him, Arry, she loved.

"I have more good news though!" Rosie snickered. "You're going to be an uncle!"

"Say what?!" Arry coughed, not sure if he heard right.

"Mavis is expecting!" Rosie continued, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

Arry just stared at her with a frown and his mouth half-open in disbelief. "I thought she and Toby…?"

"Let's just say that your brother has been working a lot of extra shifts at the quarry since you left…" Rosie chuckled. "I can tell that Toby isn't very happy… but what the hell, he never made a move, so Mavis lost her patience with him and decided to hit on your brother instead."

"You're kidding, right?" Arry pushed her away from the switch, so he could move to the other track.

"No! Bert is the father! Isn't it great?" Rosie shouted as he started driving down the line, she hurried to back after him.

"Good for him. New friends and family. He doesn't need me anymore; I might as well stay on the mainland." He grumbled, speeding up.

"That's not true! He needs you more than ever… and we also need you. We all miss you a lot!" Rosie was getting upset by his low spirit.

"Yeah, right…" Arry chortled sarcastic and bitter. He refused to believe that the steamies missed him, they used to call him the grim reaper and worse… they avoided him as soon as he entered a yard.

Rosie sighed, letting him run off. He was partially right, even though the steam engines had accepted his brother, it didn't mean they would automatically accept Arry as a part of the gang, but she hoped so. She didn't want another engine to feel left out. And Arry would probably feel very much alone when he had to leave his girlfriend on the mainland… and his brother was busy with friends and a kid…

The moonlight lit up the Vicarstown bridge as Arry crossed it for the second time that day, leaving Sodor behind. It made the sea underneath him glitter and sparkle, but he didn't see the beauty. His mind was filled with dark thoughts after all he had learned today.

Den… with Alex' lipstick-marks… the inner images of him and Alex together, smooching while Dart was cheering from the sideline. He knew it wasn't like that, but his mind kept making up these nasty pictures.

Bert… driving away from him with his steamie friends, leaving him alone in the smelters yard…

Mavis… with a tiny, baby diesel by her side, a spitting image of his twin brother.

Alex… alone and crying in her shed after he returned to Sodor, missing him.

Himself… alone, abandoned by his brother, longing for Alex through lonesome days and nights after work.

But the thought that bothered him the most was his twin-brother… and the realization that time hadn't stopped on Sodor while he was gone, life had gone on as usual without him being a part of it…

Bert wouldn't have time for him anymore now… he was losing him. He had been away too long… his brother had gone on with his life, leaving the past and his twin behind…

* * *

To be continued…


	15. Heavy Thoughts

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 15: Heavy Thoughts

* * *

Bert stared over to the mainland as he was delivering some trucks in Vicarstown. How was Arry doing now? It had been nice to see him again that day, but days and weeks had passed since then. Maybe he could get another day off to visit him again? He didn't like to ask Sir Topham Hatt such, but then again, he usually didn't ask for much.

He stopped at the station, being uncoupled from his goods train.

Rosie was at the station too, blinking flirty to him, making him blush. She had been visiting his shed almost every night since he came back after the breakdown, sometimes together with Mavis.

And as a consequence of this, Mavis was now pregnant. The thought scared him a bit, but she had told him she didn't want to be in a committed relationship, so he didn't have to worry about his freedom… he could still screw around all he wanted, as long as he had no problems with her doing the same.

In fact, he wouldn't have mind if she wanted to have him all by herself now, even though he enjoyed Rosie's nightly visits too. He would gladly have given them up if Mavis asked him to.

But at the same time he appreciated that she was so relaxed about it, letting him be free. Still, he paid extra attention to her, followed her around to make sure she didn't take too heavy loads and stayed out of danger. She often scolded him for it, but always with an affectionate look in her eyes, like she appreciated his concern about her and their unborn baby.

He sighed heavy, how he wished Arry was here to take part in it! He needed someone to talk to, tell about his worries about becoming a father and such… it just wasn't the same with Edward and his new friends. He really wanted his brother to be part of it. Arry was going to be an uncle!

"Doing well, Bert?" Rosie asked from the other track.

"As good as I can, Rosie. And you?"

"I'm feeling great today! Want me to come over tonight? We could…"

"I was actually planning to stay at the quarry tonight, Rosie. Maybe some other time…"

"Oh… lucky Mavis!" the lavender engine chuckled before pulling her coaches out of the station.

Bert smiled, he had planned on staying at the quarry, but not for the reason Rosie predicted. He just wanted to stay there to make sure Mavis was safe. He couldn't explain it, but he felt more at ease when he knew she was safe and sound. Maybe it was because she was carrying his offspring, or maybe it was because he was developing feelings for her. He had no idea, but he was trying his best to sort it out.

"Oh, Arry… I need you now…" he said with one last glance at the mainland before he drove off to the next job. He was feeling more confident and relaxed about being on his own now, not having to rely on his brother to make all the decisions and the thinking. He had actually been quite surprised over himself being able to cope on his own. Life moved on without his brother, but it would sure be richer and more meaningful with him in it. He missed him badly and still longed for the day he would be back.

* * *

Arry had snuck away to a siding together with Alex. After he had come back from the dieselworks in a rather foul mood, she had been extra affectionate to him, trying to assure him that he was the one and only for her. They did occasionally have a quarrel when one of them threw more than one glance at another engine passing by, but never anything serious.

Alex was leaning her forehead against his, sighing heavy in delight after a kiss they just had shared.

"Life can't get any better than this…" she smiled with her eyes closed.

"Mmm…" Arry said, being far away in his own thoughts. He was still pondering over Bert and Mavis, trying to grasp the fact that his twin-brother was going to be a father. He hadn't told Alex about that yet, even though she had sensed that he was holding something back. This often led to bickering and an aggressive tone, since she mistook his aloofness for thinking about other girls. Alex had very low self-esteem and no faith in herself, he had understood that after a while. She didn't seem to believe that she was worth loving and that she would be ditched as soon as a better girl crossed his tracks. How wrong she was, he thought. In fact, he hadn't even thought of other girls since he hooked up with her. Of course he threw a glance at some of the pretty ones that passed by, but it didn't mean he was attracted to them. But Alex seemed to think so and could be rather mean about it sometimes. In the beginning he had shouted back and stirred up a quarrel, but when he had sorted out why she behaved like that, that it was her insecurity that spoke, he had stopped. Now he just showed her with his actions and words that she meant the world to him, hoping that over time she would trust him fully and get more faith in herself.

"I know I've asked you a numerous time, Arry… but seriously, you're acting so air-headed and strange nowadays, I have to ask again. Is there something bothering you?" she backed a few inches, but didn't uncouple from him. Her eyes were full of both concern and suspicion.

Arry looked to the side, avoiding her stare. He had no idea how to tell her what was on his mind.

"You're thinking of breaking up with me, aren't you?" she tried to sound indifferent and tough, but he still sensed the sore tune in her voice.

"What?!" he met her stare. "What the hell makes you think that?!"

Alex smiled quick, tears had filled up her eyes, but she tried to hide it from him, just hoping they wouldn't start streaming.

"I don't know… it's just a feeling. You're so absent-minded… when I kiss you, it feels like you're not here, it's like you respond on auto-pilot…like it's just an old-habit for you, not because you love me."

Her words made him feel a sting of guilt. She was right, he wasn't himself… and he was often lost in thoughts during their make-out sessions.

He pulled the coupling chain to make her come closer, then he kissed her with all the passion he had in him, leaving her breathless when he finally broke away.

"Alex…" he whispered against her lips. "Come with me to Sodor… I can't be without you!"

Alex had been caught off guard by his kiss and sudden change of behavior, she was still recovering from the intense kiss, still a bit confused to what just had happened.

"You know I can't…" she choked out. "Mr. Scott will never let me go…"

He kissed her again, this time she just let her tears run, making the kisses taste salty. Their kisses were desperate, frustrated and aggressive as they both released the anxiety over the day when he had to go back to Sodor.

"I can't leave you… but I can't stay… I am so torn, Alex!" he whispered.

"I feel the same way, Arry… I want to come with you, but I can't…" she brushed her lips over his stubble, enjoying the roughness against her lip.

"What are we going to do?" he leaned his forehead against hers.

She didn't have a good answer. They had talked about this before, but the only solution they could come up with was a long distance relationship… which they both knew would probably end after a while anyway.

"I am considering staying here, you know… running away from my duties at Sodor, to be with you here forever… Maybe I can talk Fat Hatt into selling me to Mr. Scott." He mumbled against her lips.

"But what about your brother? You don't want to leave him behind!" Alex said, knowing how close the twins were and how devastated they both were over being separated.

"He doesn't need me anymore." Arry mumbled. "Life on Sodor has went on without me. He has new friends and new family now… he's going to be a father. He won't have time for me anymore. He has moved on."

Alex backed away from him, now jerking the coupling chain in dismay and shock.

"What are you saying?! He need you more than ever!" she scolded. "Becoming a father is probably the scariest shit he has ever gone through… and I am sure he would feel a lot better if you were there to support him!"

Arry just let her rant. He felt like his own life was hopeless. He was soon to be returned to a place where he didn't feel like he belonged anymore, having to leave the one engine that made his life worth living. It felt meaningless.

"This is what's been bothering you?! Wow… you sure know how to make problems out of nothing. Feeling sorry for yourself without having any reason for it yet… that's pathetic, Arry!"

She jerked his coupling chain again, forcing him to look at her.

"Your brother will always need you, it doesn't change even if he does get a life on his own. You're still related, still close, still friends… you just have to share him with others. And you know what? You should be happy for your brother that he is actually able to have a life on his own, that way he won't end up helpless if you for some reason would be gone one day. That way you know he will be fine, that he'll live on and you don't have to worry for him. But that doesn't mean he no longer needs you or no longer wants you to be a part of his life."

Alex had talked so much, she was blushing. Now she breathed out and looked at the hazard-striped engine in front of her.

Arry sighed, looking down in defeat.

"All the changes in our lives scares me, Alex. I've never liked changes, I prefer things to stay as they are… though some changes can lead to good things, like meeting you… it still scares me not to know what tomorrow will bring."

Alex nuzzled his buffers. "Just go with it, Arry. You don't always need to know where you're going as long as you know where you've been."

"You make it sound so easy…" he smiled weakly, meeting her stare. His eyes carried all the softness and affection he felt for her, she could drown in those eyes.

"It is, Arry. Whatever happens will happen… and regrets have never made anything undone. Just take life as it comes along and deal with it here and now."

The pink shunter kissed his nose, smiling softly. "If I were to think of what will happen in my future, I would go nuts."

Arry looked down, remembering her terminal illness. He didn't want to think of it. "I think I understand what you mean, given your situation…"

"It doesn't only apply to me, Arry. You and I both know we'll be separated one day, either by my death or your departure… that's why we need to enjoy what we have here and now. Live like you're going to die tomorrow, love like every day is your last."

Arry took her words to his heart, looking up with a soft smile.

"Thanks, Alex. You're my better half. Thanks for making me see things from another point of view."

"You're welcome." She said, coughing.

The black smoke puffing from her air vents reminded them of the unavoidable day to come. The day were she wouldn't be among the living anymore.

But until then, they needed to live and enjoy the time they had left.

* * *

To be continued…


	16. The end of a new beginning

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 16: The end of a new beginning...

* * *

An alarm echoed over Sodor, everyone peeked up from their work. It usually meant bad news…

This time it was from the slate quarry. Most engines ignored it and went on with their jobs, there was probably nothing to worry about anyway. A rockslide that needed to be cleared or even a false alarm.

Bert on the other hand almost short circuited his generator every time it happened. Mavis was based up at the quarry, and he never stopped worrying about her and their unborn baby. If anything happened to her while he wasn't there, he would blame himself.

It was quiet at the smelters this afternoon, so he could run off to the quarry to check. Not that anyone would have been able to hold him back anyway…

The alarm blared though the air, becoming more intense the nearer he came to the quarry. He entered the area, but it was quiet, no dust or panic anywhere. But the sight meeting him sent chills through his frame anyway. Mavis was being loaded on to a flatbed coupled to a rather shocked Diesel. Blood and oil were oozing from her, dripping from the flatbed, down on the tracks. Her eyes where closed, but she whimpered an yelped like she was in great pain.

"Mavis!" Bert ran over, but couldn't come close enough to touch her. "Diesel, what happened?!"

The black diesel looked down, he looked scared. "I don't know… Paxton found her derailed and in pain. There was no sign of an accident or anything, but oil and blood were everywhere! It looked so… so… scary as fuck!"

Bert felt helpless. What was he going to do now? What did they expect him to do? What would Mavis want him to do? What would… Arry have done?

The Fat Controller came over to him. The alarm had stopped now.

"Bert. I want you to take a day off. I know you two were close friends, so you will probably just be to absent minded to do a good job anyway. Don't worry, she'll be ok, but…"

"But what?!" the hazard-striped shunter yelped.

The Fat Controller didn't have to finish as a railway worker walked past them with an oily, bloody thing in his arms. Bert swallowed. It was a baby engine, not fully developed, not ready to be born, but already dead. He caught a glimpse of its hazard-stripes, its greyish body. A mix of him and Mavis. He stared in shock and sorrow. It was his son or daughter being carried away… sent to scrap before its life had even started.

"NOOOO!"

He felt the world swirl around, he struggled to keep the darkness away, but eventually it overwhelmed him, blacked him out. He didn't hear the Fat Controller order another flatbed to load him on to, nor did he notice Diesel pulling Mavis away.

* * *

The next morning Alex looked up from her work as an engine came rumbling into the shunting yard. If Arry hadn't been working alongside her, she would have thought it was him.

The hazard-striped shunter looked somber when he pulled to a stop.

"Bert? What are you doing here in the middle of the week?" Alex asked and rolled over. The she looked around to find Arry, she knew he was nearby, she could hear him. "Arry! Your brother is here!"

Then she turned her attention to the sullen engine in front of her. "Bert? Has anything happened?"

Bert sighed heavy, barely looking up as Arry also came trundling over. He opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't able to speak. His heart felt like it was shattered into tiny pieces, so how was he going to be able to say a word?

Arry carefully nudged him. "Bert? What's wrong?"

A shiver went through the big iron-diesel before he broke down and cried in front of them both. Alex and Arry exchanged worried glances. They had no idea what was troubling Bert, so they didn't know what was the right approach.

"Bert? Speak to me…" Alex said softly, but he just laid down on the tracks and howled like he was in great pain. Like a dying engine in distress. She looked over to Arry, who looked just as shocked and confused as her.

"Bro, you're making me really worried…" Arry said concerned, pulling Bert's coupling chain to make him stand up again. His twin obeyed powerless, like he had given up on life, like he had no will of his own. He allowed Arry to push him into Alex' shed without a protest.

Alex followed behind them, biting her lip. Whatever made a strong and tough engine like Bert break down like this had to be bad…

Arry looked sideways at her as she parked beside him, looking at his twin.

Bert was squeezing his eyes shut as if the pain inside him would go away if he just did it long enough. He knew the two other shunters waited for an answer, that they were worried. But how could he put this into words? It was eating him from inside, or so it felt… he knew he had to talk, to deal with the sorrow somehow, but he just wasn't able to start.

"Bert? Are you hurt?" Alex asked. "Do you want me to get Mr. Scott?"

Bert shook his front. "This can't be fixed by any mechanic…"

"Oh no… don't tell me you're ill…" she choked out.

"No… I am healthy… at least physically… but… but Mavis…" he sobbed, almost choking the words.

Arry jerked backwards. "Is… is she?!"

"No… but… she and I…" Bert struggled to speak.

"I know… Rosie told me when I was shunting another engine to Vicarstown…" Arry looked down, he was starting to understand where this conversation was leading, so he didn't want to congratulate Bert.

"She miscarried…" Bert choked out, bursting into tears again.

Arry drove close, pushing his bumpers gently for support. "I'm so sorry."

Alex felt tears tickling her cheeks. Her heart was breaking for the poor ironworker, who was no longer going to be a father.

Arry let Bert cry out all his sorrow and pain. He felt empty himself, barely able to imagine the pain his brother was going through. It pained him to see his brother so devastated, but it also made him glad that he had come over all the way from Sodor to seek his company. When disaster struck, he was still the one Bert would turn to.

"I'm so sorry, Bert." He whispered again, feeling tears stinging his eyes, threatening to fill them up and roll down his cheeks any time now. He had also lost someone… a niece or nephew… after the talk to Alex a few days ago, he had actually started to look forward to becoming an uncle… and now it wasn't going to happen. It was over before it started.

He pushed Bert's bumpers a little harder, leaning his forehead against his, letting him cry. Also crying himself.

"I am not going to say it will be alright…" he whispered. "Because it sure doesn't feel like it will ever become alright after this… but we'll pull through, Bert. You're not alone. You and me, like always. We're together in this. When life blows sand in our face, we always have each other, helping each other. Through thick and thin, fire and water. Brothers in arms, partners in crime…"

"The really useless crew…" Bert smiled through tears, sniffling.

"We'll plough through this, bro… we're not engines who give up easily." Arry said. "Whatever happens, you will always have me… and Alex."

Alex nodded, of course she would support them if she could. Even though she would have to stay on the mainland when they went home to Sodor.

"Thanks." Bert whispered.

The three engines stood there in silence for a while, together in the sorrow over an unborn life who ended before it started.

"Fat Hatt gave me some days off to cope with this…" Bert mumbled, he had cried himself dry now. "I… I didn't want to be alone… and I could sure talk to Edward and… but I didn't know where else to go. I needed you, Arry. I miss you so badly. I couldn't go anywhere else… even if it was a long drive."

Arry leaned his forehead against Bert's, comforting him.

Alex backed away to find Scott and tell him that they had a visitor for a couple of days. She was certain he wouldn't mind when he got to know what had happened.

* * *

Alex was right, Scott didn't mind. Bert could stay as long as he wanted.

That night, there were three engines in her shed. The two brothers were parked face to face talking low to each other until they fell asleep. They switched between smiling and crying, trying to cope with the tragedy that had happened. They agreed that Bert had to go back as soon as he felt ready, and be there for Mavis. She was probably just as devastated as him.

Alex glanced at the two sleeping brothers, smiling sadly. They shared something she never had been part of, the invisible bond between twins. Oh, how she wished she had a brother or sister to share everything with… just like Arry and Bert.

Then she thought of Mavis, the poor girl who had lost her unborn baby. She had never met her, but felt like she knew her through Arry's stories about Sodor and the engines living there.

She couldn't help but wonder how she would have reacted herself if it was her expecting a baby with Arry… and then miscarried. She would of course had been devastated… crushed… but would she react by wanting to ending her life, or would she try to drown her sorrow in hard work?

She didn't know… and she hoped she never would find out. She wanted a baby with Arry, but if she was ever blessed with one, she hoped everything would go smoothly.

She looked at Arry, smiling affectionately. How would he be as a father?

He looked so peaceful in his sleep, it made her generator feel warm and fuzzy. She closed her eyes and fell asleep with a small, sad smile on her lips.

* * *

To be continued…


	17. Stay or go?

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 17: Stay or go?

* * *

Alex appreciated the extra set of wheels, but at the end of the week, she pulled Bert aside.

"Bert… isn't it time for you to go back to Sodor? Not that we don't want you here, but… you have a job to do and Mavis probably needs you…"

Bert looked at her with a dark sorrow gleaming in his eyes. "I don't know… I… I don't know if I can. It's so painful… I lost my… child."

Arry slid to a stop beside them, he had heard them talking. Alex threw a glance at him, letting him know they were talking about something that was very hard for Bert.

"I know it is, Bert. You're welcome to stay as long as you want. But you're not the only one who lost a child. Mavis… she carried it inside her, feeling it grow. I think she needs you, Bert." Alex whispered, nudging his buffers. "I know I would, if I were in her place."

Bert looked at Arry, thoughtful. "But…"

"Don't think of me, bro. I'll be alright." Arry said, agreeing with Alex. "Mavis needs you more than I do. You both need each other."

Bert stared over to Sodor, even though he couldn't see much of it from the shunting yard. He hadn't thought of it before… if he was in this much pain, how bad was it for Mavis? She had looked so forward to having this baby… she was probably going through a hell worse than his. How could he be so selfish, running away without thinking of her?!

"You guys are right…" He stated, giving them both a determined smile. "Thanks for opening my eyes! And for being there for me… I couldn't have lived on without your support the first days."

He looked at them both, feeling uplifted. The sorrow was still burning, but now he knew what he had to do. "I'll go back to Sodor tomorrow."

He nudged Arry's buffers before he switched tracks and went back to work. He smiled, his brother had sure found a good girl, not only good-looking, but with brains too.

Arry stared after him as the took a line of trucks to the coaling plant. As Bert disappeared around a bend, he glanced sideways at Alex.

"You think he'll be alright over there?" he said, worried.

"He'll be fine, Arry. He is stronger than you think. He's a fighter." Alex smiled mildly, staring in the same direction as Bert went. "And Mavis will need him too. I am sure those two will work their way out of this together."

Arry wished he could be as sure as Alex. With a heavy sigh, he went back to work too.

* * *

Bert thundered across Vicarstown, not even bothering stopping by the dieselworks to say hi to the others. He went straight to the quarry, barely bothering to honk a greeting to engines he passed on his way there.

"Toby? Have you seen Mavis?" he panted as he slid to a stop in the quarry.

The tram engine glared at him. "What do you want with her? You ran off when she needed you most!"

Bert grit his teeth. "I am not going to discuss this with you. Do you know where she is or not?"

Toby snorted and puffed away, not giving him an answer.

"Fine…" the hazard-striped diesel snarled and scurried over to the next engine he saw.

"Dodge! Have you seen Mavis around?" he shouted out at an engine in distance.

"Nope!" the green and grey shunter rattled into a tunnel and out of sight.

Bert sighed sad and slumped low.

"She's in her shed." a voice muttered for a bridge above him. "She has refused to come out all week."

Bert looked up, seeing Skarloey pass over the bridge. The narrow guage engine looked at him with dismay, but at least he had said where to find the black quarry engine.

"Thanks, man." Bert scurried over to the shed. The doors were closed. Muffled sobs could be heard from inside. He slid to a stop, hesitating. His generator ached by the sound of her crying.

"Mavis?" he called out, softly.

The sniffling from inside stopped, it was complete silence for a while, until a low howl sounded followed by more intense sobs.

"Mavis… can I come in?" he asked.

He didn't get an answer, only more crying.

"She doesn't want you here!" Toby slid up beside him. "Respect that!"

"Stay out of this Toby!" Bert mumbled, not in the mood to fight.

"You caused her this pain! She wouldn't have been this devastated if it weren't for you!" the brown engine continued.

Bert groaned. "Don't you have work to do?"

Toby didn't answer to that. "Stay away from her, smelly scrapyard engine! She doesn't want you here!"

"Then she can tell me that herself! I don't need to hear it from you!"

The two engines stared at each other with hatred. Toby weeshed steam in Bert's face. The iron-diesel closed his eyes, trying to keep himself from exploding. But as the tram did it again, he backed, switching tracks and ramming into the obnoxious engine at full force. Toby winced as he raced towards a line of troublesome trucks, slamming into them so hard, his buffers felt like they were broken. He looked down, relieved to see them still attached to his bufferbeam. Then he felt a bump behind him. A line of trucks was shunted towards him, bumping into his rear. He tried to back, but their brakes were on.

"Little annoying piggy in the middle!" Bert growled, trundling back to Mavis' shed.

This time, he didn't wait for her answer, he simply pushed the doors open. It took his eyes some seconds to adjust to the darkness inside. There she was, backed as far as she could, slumped low. Her face was wet from tears, she had dark shadows under her eyes. She looked so miserable it his him straight in his fuel tank.

"Mavis…" he began, driving slowly towards her, letting the doors slide shut behind him. She didn't look up, but she moved a bit forward, until their buffers touched. She sobbed violently.

Bert rested his forehead against hers, taking part in her sorrow, comforting her.

"I'm sorry I ran away. I am here now." He whispered. "I'm not leaving you again."

"Thanks…" her voice was merely a whisper, but it was all he needed to hear.

They stayed in the shed for the rest of that night, talking, letting the other engine take part in the pain over their lost offspring. Joined together in the mutual sorrow.

Toby puffed past the shed a little later, staring down at the tracks as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He had tried to win her heart, to support her in this hard times, to become more than a friend. He had fought… and lost. To a weathered diesel from the ironworks. He steamed away as tears prickled his eyes.

* * *

To be continued…


	18. Third Wheel

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 18: Third wheel

* * *

"Alex!" Mr. Scott shouted across the yard one morning, making both her and Arry stop working. The middle aged man came running over, having a big smile.

"The new shunter arrives today!" he panted as he reached then, leaning on Alex' bufferbeam to catch his breath.

Alex met Arry's stare and then looked down. They both knew what that meant.

Scott seemed to realize it too. "Ok… I know this means Arry will go back to Sodor soon, but… soon you can retire, Alex. After teaching the new shunter what you know, you don't have to work anymore. I can't sell you because of your engine, but I don't want to scrap you though… so I will keep you here anyway. You're like family to me. So we'll call it retirement. Then you can go visit Arry as often as you like. I won't deny you that."

Alex smiled. "That would be nice…"

Thousands of thoughts swirled around in Arry's mind. He wasn't sure how to feel about this. Alex' retirement meant that they could still see each other… but as he had to go back to Sodor, it wouldn't be every day, like now.

"I hope you guys will welcome him nicely, even if this means you will be separated soon." Scott said, giving them a stern look. "His name is Tyr and he is a BS TMZ 1448."

Alex and Arry nodded, keeping their stare to the ground.

Scott left them with their own thoughts as the phone started ringing in his office. The two shunters looked at each other.

"I wonder what the new guy is like." Alex mumbled, looking away. Having to part with Arry would be awful, even if she would be allowed to visit him.

"I hope he's old and ugly…" Arry tried to joke.

Alex chuckled. "You don't have anything to fear anyway, Arry. There will never be anyone else for me."

She moved closer, leaning her forehead on his, closing her eyes. He kissed her nose tip.

"We'll find out what he is like later today…" he mumbled.

"Or now…." Alex broke away as they heard an engine rattling into the yard.

"Oh…" Arry muttered, not liking what he saw. The new guy was green and blue, big and strong-looking. His face reminded him of Den, though a with a more self-confident expression. Den was more shy and humble. This guy trundled in like he owned the yard. His dark blue eyes scanned the yard, stopping at the two shunters who stared back at him. He smiled friendly, but had a cold gleam in his eyes. His smile didn't seem sincere.

"Come on…" Alex said to Arry, and the duo reluctantly rolled over to the newcomer.

"Good afternoon. You must be Tyr. I'm Alex, and this is Arry. I am your mentor. Scott has told you why you're needed here, right?" Alex said as the stopped alongside the new guy.

"Nice to meet you, Alex." He threw an uninterested glance at Arry and then turned his attention back to Alex. "Yeah, Scott told me you're going to die soon. So you need to teach me everything before you say good night."

Arry growled as he saw what effect the words had on Alex. She looked crushed, she was well aware that she would die, but didn't like it when anyone said it as blunt as that.

"Relax, hot shots." The blue and green diesel sneered to Arry. "I just said the truth."

Tyr turned back to the pink shunter again, giving her his most charming smile.

"Let's make the most of the time you have left, babe." He blinked to her, letting the innuendo linger in the air.

"Don't you "babe" her!" Arry snapped, making the two others jump.

"Ok ok… shouldn't you go shunt some trucks or something, hot shots? Alex and I need to get to know each other… as we're going to work together. You're going home soon, aren't you?"

Arry fumed, he wanted to get back at the arrogant newcomer, but Alex gave him a stern look. So he thundered away, biffing into a line of trucks.

He glared at the other two while he worked, cringing as he saw Alex smile and laugh.

* * *

Arry sure wasn't any happier when he came back to the sheds later that night, only to find out that Tyr was standing in his place. The new diesel smiled sly to him.

"Sorry, mate. The sheds are only for the engines belonging to this yard." Tyr chuckled and threw and flirty glance at Alex. The pink shunter blushed and looked at Arry.

"I'm sorry, Arry. Scott's orders." She looked genuinely sorry, but Arry still felt betrayed.

"Fine…" he snorted, thundering off to the coaling plant. There was an old, dilapidated shed there. At least it gave some shelter from the wind and the annoying sea gulls.

He felt miserable, looking out of the shed. One door was hanging off its hinges, and the other one had fallen off completely. The ceiling was full of holes, if it started raining it would drip inside.

He sighed heavy. After all these weeks, this was what he was reduced to. A leftover engine without a place to stay. The third wheel. His homesickness hit him at full strength again.

He wished that Alex at least had kissed him good night as usual, but she was suddenly afraid of showing him any affection in front of that new guy. He gritted his teeth as the jealousy got the better of him. He would probably be replaced in more than one way when he returned to Sodor!

He looked up through a hole in the ceiling, staring at the stars, they always had an calming effect on him. Maybe he was overreacting. Alex had to be nice and train Tyr as he was going to replace her, it wasn't more than that. And of course Scott wanted to keep his new engine in the shed, to prevent weathering and damage. He was going home soon anyway.

"I guess I should relax…" he mumbled to himself, forcing his jealousy away.

* * *

But the next day didn't get any better. As he came to the yard, Alex and Tyr still hadn't woke up and gone to work, so he had to start alone. He glared at the closed shed doors. This was the first time he had to start his day without a morning kiss from his girlfriend.

He shunted the empty trucks into place, waiting for another locomotive to come get them. He glanced to the side as he heard the shed doors open and the two engines drove outside, chatting and giggling, like they already were best friends. His generator fizzled, humming unevenly as he looked at them. Alex didn't even look his way, even though she had to know he was there. Tyr on the other hand met his stare and smirked confidently. Arry glared back, stonefaced.

"Good morning, Alex." He said and rolled over to her to greet her like usual. But this time she just looked away as he was going to kiss her.

"Not now, Arry…" she whispered, looking up at him, shy. She glanced at Tyr, blushing.

Arry swallowed bitterly. So, she didn't want to kiss him in front of the new guy. Why? Was she embarrassed over him? Wasn't he polished and good enough? He looked down at his rusted, weathered bufferbeam. Tyr was freshly painted and had no signs of weathering yet, he didn't even have stubble. Arry had to admit he looked good. Better than himself.

"Ok…" he backed away and got back to work, deciding to ignore her until she would acknowledge him again. Tyr chuckled as he coupled up to the empty trucks Arry had arranged.

"Aww… no morning kiss for you, hot shots? Too bad… she's a great kisser." The newcomer oiled smoothly and rolled away.

Arry stared dirty after him, biffing into another truck with a growl.

"Don't let him get to you, Arry…" Alex said softly beside him, smiling to him. "He just tries to tick you off. And he is not my type anyway. He is too high on himself."

"Still… you pretend not to know me when he is near…" Arry growled back, not amused by her sudden change of behavior. He snorted and coupled to some trucks, taking them to the coaling plant.

Alex looked down. He was right. She tried not to display their relationship so much while Tyr was watching, but not for the reasons Arry suspected. She just couldn't handle Tyr's spitefulness and teasing. He had been a major pain in the ass in the shed last night, and she was so tired. She didn't want to fuel it any further, but seeing how it hurt Arry made her regret.

She thundered after him.

"Arry! Wait!"

"Not now, Alex…" he said imitating her tune from earlier, speeding up.

"No! You're going to listen to me!" she growled and coupled to the end of his train, slamming her brakes on to hold him back.

The train jerked, but didn't stop. She gasped. Had she really lost that much strength already?! Arry easily dragged her along, her brakes shrieked as she helplessly was pulled along the tracks. She loosened up again, rolling with the train. The realization was painful. This meant she was getting closer to the end…

They stopped at the coaling plant, Arry uncoupled and turned, looking at Alex who just had stopped behind the trucks, not even uncoupling. She looked defeated. He felt a pang of guilt and stopped beside her.

"I am getting weaker…" she whispered, staring down at the tracks.

Arry felt her words sting painfully, like everytime he was reminded of her fate. He was going to lose her one day.

"Normally, I should at least have been able to slow you down a bit, but… you just dragged me along like I was just a truck with faulty brakes…" she continued, tearing up.

Arry switched tracks, buffering up to her rear buffers, pushing them in. She sobbed violently. He swallowed hard, not wanting to cry, but thinking of the day she wouldn't be among them anymore was so hard, so awful, it made tears sting his eyes.

"Aww… he found you at last, babe!" Tyr tooted as he thundered past them. "Save some for me, cutie! I am worth it."

None of them bothered responding to him. They just remained on the same track, seeking comfort in each other. Waiting. Waiting for an absolution that would never come.

* * *

To be continued…


	19. Farewell

Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. Alex however is my own creation. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

From Sodor with love

* * *

Chapter 19: Farewell

* * *

Alex and Arry had known the day would come, but had forced the thought away, so it came as a shock to them when Scott a few days later declared that Arry was returning to Sodor the next morning.

They stared at each other across a flatbed in the yard.

Tyr cackled loudly, finding it very funny.

"Ahh…. Finally, we can get rid of that dirty ironworker, babe! From now on it will just be you and me! It's gonna be sweet!"

Alex didn't let go of Arry's stare, her eyes held all the pain and sorrow she felt over his departure, it hit him straight in the generator. He tried to smile, but failed. He didn't want to leave. Even if he had to stay in a dilapidated shed at the coaling plant, he still got to see her every day… on Sodor he had a warm, snug shed, but didn't know when he got to see her again. He would choose the worn out shed if he could…

"I… I…" he stuttered, wanting to say something that could cheer her up. But he knew it was in vain, if she felt somewhat the same as he felt right now. Nothing could make things easier.

"Arry…" her voice was merely a whisper.

"Alex…" he looked back, feeling the loaded air between them.

Tyr raced past them again, breaking the moment with his spiteful laughter.

They both glared at him.

"I would rather share my shed with you than him, Arry… I… I didn't want to throw you out…" Alex struggled against her tears.

"I know… I know, Alex…" he whispered back.

He pulled the flatbed away, so they could stand closer. He didn't care if Scott got cross over them not doing their job, right now, he just wanted to be there for Alex. This was their last day together.

No, not the last… he scolded himself mentally. But the last in a long time.

Their coupling chains were entwined. Alex looked down at it, tears running down her face in an endless stream.

"How am I supposed to go on without you, Arry?" she whispered.

"You managed before I came here…" he whispered back.

"Yes, but back then I didn't even know you existed. Now I do… and I can't stand the thought of losing you now! You make my life worth living again. Before you, there was no life. Or so it feels…"

"I understand… I feel the same way." He sighed. "You're not losing me… not entirely. We can still be together… just… in a long-distance relationship."

Alex sobbed. "I guess it's better than nothing."

Arry leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "Better than nothing." He stated.

None of them slept much that night. They both tried to make the most out of their last night together. They spent it in the old shed at the coaling plant as Tyr refused to let them have the whole shed alone for the night. Alex didn't have enough energy to pick a fight with him, so she just left him alone in there, sneaking over the Arry's dilapidated shed instead. It was big enough for two, and still gave them some privacy. They both laughed and cried through the night, sharing memories from their time together.

* * *

As Alex woke up the next morning, still feeling the after glow from all the love they made that night, she blinked against the sun shining through a hole in the wall. Arry's engines was running, he had to leave soon. She glanced up at him, their coupling chains were still entwined, none of them wanted to be the first to let go.

"I love you, Arry." She whispered, her eyes full of tears.

"I love you too, Alex." His lips brushed over hers, then kissing her tenderly.

They broke the kiss as Arry's driver came in, climbing into his cab.

"I guess… this is good bye." Alex choked out, holding on to his stare.

"Let's not say good bye." Arry smiled sad. "Let's say "see you later". Because we WILL meet again. I will come visit you whenever I can, Alex."

Alex smiled through tears. It was so typically him to try staying positive.

"Ok. Goo… I mean… See you later, Arry." She whispered.

"See you later, Alex."

Their coupling chains tightened as Arry started backing outside, until they finally had to let go. Alex held his stare until he was out of sight. Then she broke down, crying as if her world fell apart.

* * *

Arry arrived at Killdane late that night, Bert wasn't in the shed. He was probably at the quarry or the dieselworks. It made his return home feel even more lonely and hopeless, Arry sighed as he turned on the turntable inside the smelters.

He backed slowly into the shed, keeping the doors open, so he could look outside. The scrapyard felt different, familiar, but different. He had always been working here, only leaving to take goods around the island or get more scrap from somewhere. It had always felt like home, but now it only felt strange and lonely. He knew too well why. He had seen another yard, nature, get to work at a different place for a while, made friends. Alex' yard was everything this place wasn't. It was open, brighter, it had been flowers and trees around it, fresh breeze… this place was dark, dirty, full of death and misery. The only trees here were dead and crippled. If there was ever a breeze, it carried a metallic scent of smelted metal. He sighed heavy. If only Alex had been there with him… or at least Bert.

"How am I supposed to be able to go back to my old life after getting a taste of another? A better life… a brighter and more happy life…" he mumbled to himself, lowering his stare to the tracks below.

"There was no life before you, Alex." He continued, looking up at the moon. "You taught me to live. You showed me that there are small things that matter, like fresh air, scents of flowers, nature… you made me notice all those things. You brought colors into my life. How am I supposed to return to the grey after that?"

The moon didn't have any answers for him, but he knew that on the mainland, there was a pink, tattooed tomboy shunter staring up at the same moon right now. Missing him just as much as he missed her.

"See you later, Alex." he whispered softly, smiling sad.

* * *

The end…

A/N: Sorry it is short, but I couldn't force myself to write more. I just wanted to finish it instead of leaving it unfinished, so... a short ending is better than no ending, right? This story is sort of a prequel to "Iron Heart". So, if you wonder if Arry and Alex ever met again... read Iron Heart. At your own risk… it is not a happy story.


End file.
